USA > Indiana > Early Indiana trials: and sketches. Reminiscences > Part 7
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 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
69
CORONER CONNERY OUTDONE.
There remained but a week before the election. Crume became alarmed. It was evidently to be a close contest. The next week the Battalion Muster, at Squire Conner's, four miles below Connersville, on Whitewater, was to come off. This was looked to by the candi- dates with much interest, as the closing of the campaign before the election. The preacher lived a few miles west of town, and having no horse, walked down early in the morning, expecting to get one there. Crume and his friends kindly offered to procure one, and borrowed of Robert Griffis a very small jackass. The preacher mounted when it was found his feet would drag upon the ground. This they immediately remedied by taking up the stirrups, drawing up the legs of the preacher like the letter K, his gown covering the whole jack but his head and ears, and off they started for the muster.
Arriving at the field, tbe horsemen rode in at the bars, but the jack of the preacher "took the studs," and in spite of all the kicking, pounding and whipping, refused to budge an inch. The eyes of the battalion were soon directed to the preacher and his jackass, when suddenly the stubborn animal was seen to spring forward, and forcing his head through the rails, the hat of the preacher towering over the top of the fence, commenced hraying at the top of his musical voice, while shout followed shout from the field. This was too much for the nerves of the candidate. With a great effort he forced back the head of the jack from the fence and turned his countenance toward town. A traveler met him slowly jogging up the road, evidently ruminating on the vicissitudes of political life. The morning paper gave us notice that he had declined. Crume was elected without further opposition, and, best of all, he gave me his vote for United States Senator.
CORONER CONNERY OUTDONE.
THE recent mockery in the Dr. Burdell case at New York, before Coroner Connery, which filled the papers of that city, and a gaping public with morning news for two months, and ended in smoke, brings to my recollection a case of equal magnitude in early Indiana, except that no Mrs. Cunningham or Eckel, had been suspected of spiriting away the immortal from the mortal part of the body, over which the inquest was held. A man was found dead one cold morn- ing with his skull broken, lying in the woods. He had been seen the night before considerably intoxicated. The body was frozen. An inquest was held before noon of the same day before Coroner Clifford. The jury formed a hollow square; the body in the center. Coroner Clifford :- " Gentlemen of the inquest, there are three things to be
70
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
considered when a man commits suicide by killing his neighbor. First, did he come to his death by incidence. Second, did he come to his death by accidence. Third, did he come to his death by the hands of the incenduary. Look at the body, gentlemen, and return your verdict." The jury counseled nearly five minutes. Inquest. " We the jury find that the deceased came to his death by incidence, having put too much water in his whisky, causing him to freeze last night." Inquest returned ; coffin made ; the body carried to the grave ; funeral services performed before it was dark, and yet neither the New York Tribune, the Journal of Commerce, the Express, nor the Herald ever noticed the circumstance.
A CONCLUSIVE SPEECH ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE WABASH CANAL.
I AM tempted, lest I forget it, to sketch an incident on the passage through the House of Representatives of Indiana, of the Wabash Canal Bill, by which the State was largely involved, and the Euro- pean bond-holders, by subsequent legislation procured by their inde- fatigable agents, Charles Butler, of New York, and Michael G. Bright, of this State, were enabled to get possession of the Wabash and Erie Canal. The bill had been engrossed, and was to come up the next day on its final passage. The House and galleries were jam full. At an early hour the aisles were seated with ladies, and the doors and windows opened to give fresh air to the suffocating audience. The Speaker worked his way to the chair with difficulty, and called the house to order : not a sound was heard, all eyes were turned to the opposition benches. The bill was announced by its title. "This is the third reading of the bill, and the question is, shall the bill pass ?" A pause ensued, when Col. David Wallace, one of the most eloquent men in the State, arose, his fine black eye fixed upon the Chair, and with his musical voice and brilliant imagination, delivered a splendid eulogium upon the measure. He took his seat amid applause from all parts of the house. Mr. Rariden, his brother-in-law, the leader of the opposition benches, followed against the bill, in a most powerful common sense speech, that told with killing effect upon its friends. He took his seat ; another pause, deep anxiety bordering on despon- dency depicted in the countenances of his opponents, when there was seen rising by the side of Col. Wallace, the tall and commanding figure of Col. John McNairy, the chosen orator of the Wabash Valley, and deeply identified with the passage of the bill. All eyes were upon him ; it was known that he always stuck to the question, while
71
A CONCLUSIVE SPEECH ON THE CANAL BILL.
his speeches were brief as a telegraph dispatch. The Colonel added to his fine person a loud, clear voice. Raising himself almost on tip-toe, at the very highest pitch, his eyes fell upon the Chair : " Mr. Speaker, our population on the Wabash am great, but our resources for salt am slim. SALT! they can not emigrate up the Wabash." The Col. took his seat with great applause from the benches favorable to the passage of the bill. This speech was con- clusive. No one asked for the floor to reply. The question was put from the Chair, and the bill passed by a triumphant majority. The cannon fired, the bells rang, the city was illuminated, and all was joy and hilarity at the capital for weeks afterward.
72
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
[WEDNESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 5, 1857.
A POLITICAL JURY.
THE Fayette Circuit Court was held soon after the great contest for President had terminated in favor of Gen. Jackson against Henry Clay. There was perhaps never a more excited election in the eoun- try. Gabriel Ginn was the Jackson candidate for Sheriff, and Robert D. Helm the Clay candidate.
A few days before the election John Murphy, a very respectable citizen, and others, put in circulation a handbill against Helm, mak- ing charges against his integrity. Helm was defcated, and employed myself and Samuel C. Sample to bring suit for libel. The action was brought, and eame on for trial at the next court. Both the Sheriff and his deputies were warm Jackson men, and it so happened that ten of the regular panel of jurors were of the same politics. James Rari- den, John T. Mc Kinney and Gen. James Noble appcared for the defen- dant. The regular panel were called and all answered. The Court .- " Does the plaintiff take the jury ?" "We are content." Gen. Noble at once challenged, peremptorily, the two Clay men ; the sheriff imme- diately filled their places with two leading Jacksonians. " We take the jury," says Rariden. "So do we; let them be sworn." My elient ran forward and whispered in my ear, " All is gone, they are all Jack- son men." We proved the publication beyond question. Mr. Sample opened very briefly for the plaintiff, and was followed by the defend- ant's attornies with their usual force, upon the question of law and fact. Each closed with a strong appeal to the politics of the jury, and the fact that the defendant was a Jacksonian and the plaintiff a Clayite, was pressed with all their power. My client whispered to me to give up the case and suffer a non-suit.
As Gen. Noble closed his speech, about half past eleven in the fore- noon, Judge Eggleston, "Shall we adjourn now ?" " I prefer closing before dinner." " You certainly can not do that." "I'll try." " Gen- tlemen of the jury we are trying one of the most important questions that has ever been tried in the county. I hold the affirmative of the issue, the counsel opposed to me the negative, and you are to decide it by your verdict. It is, whether a Jackson man will regard his oath, and find according to the law and the evidence. You were selected because the counsel for the defendant supposed you would perjure yourselves to acquit their elient. I believe that a Jackson man is just as honest as a Clay man, and will be no more likely to perjure himself to acquit a Jackson man, than would a Clay man to convict him. Your names are on the record; the eyes of the people are upon you ;
73
AN "INFANT" IN COURT, ETC.
my client will not take a cent of your verdict ; I only ask you to give his counsel fees, one hundred dollars." I occupied about fifteen min- utes. The jury retired, and before Court adjourned returned a verdiet for the plaintiff of one hundred dollars damages. Judgment accord- ingly.
AN "INFANT" IN COURT.
THE Case of the widow of Thomas Beard, against his heirs, for her interest in his estate, was called. Mrs. Beard was an estimable widow lady when she married Thomas Beard and became his second wife. They each had large families of children, some married and some single, at the death of Mr. Beard. The claim of the widow was warmly contested by Mr. Rariden for the heirs, before the jury, in one of the strongest speeches I ever heard him make. Ile appealed with all his power to the jury, aroused their sympathy for the poor infants about to be wronged out of their father's estate by the plaintiff, and having worked himself up to tears, left the jury weeping like children. As he closed I sprang to my feet, and at top of my voice, " Mr. Frazier, stand up!" John Frazier, about six feet two inches high, square shouldered, large black bushy head, face covered with hair, about forty- five years of age, not less than two hundred and fifty pounds avoirdu- pois, stood up before the Court and jury. "That, gentlemen of the jury, is one of the infants that you and Mr. Rariden are crying about." It operated like a cold shower-bath upon the jury. The case was over, and my client obtained a verdict for all she claimed, and to which she was justly entitled.
PATHETIC SPEECH SPOILED.
THE great numbers of criminal cases in the cireuit adjoining the Ohio River, early invited to our side several young men from Ken- tucky, who had been trained in the Grundy, Rowan, Clay, Pope and Breckenridge school of advocacy, in which the success of the defense, like that of the play at the theater, depended as much upon the stage preparation, as npon the merits of the advocate or actor. One of these young professional advocates, I call Letcher, was employed to defend a young married man for stealing chickens, coop and all, and taking them down the river on a flatboat. Leteher was a large, fine looking young man, and of high order as a declaimer, but generally shot above the mark, or in the language of James, T. Brown, he seldom brought himself down to the comprehension of the Court and jury. This was to be his debut as an advocate among us, and his every motion was watched with interest.
74
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
Early in the morning, before the case was called, there was seen on the witness-bench, the wife of the prisoner in deep mourning, her infant in her arms, and her little boy by her side, her mother, his mother, and two of his sisters, all in mourning-the prisoner sitting in the box next them.
The case was called, when Mr. Letcher rose and asked permission to have a short consultation with his client in the jury-room. The request was granted by the Court, with directions to the sheriff to see to them. The sheriff left them in the room, and then put his ear to the key-hole. Letcher to the prisoner. "You must be governed strictly by my directions, My speech will be divided into four parts, First, the historical; Second, the argumentative; Third, the reply ; Fourth, the sympathetic. You must all sit quiet until I come to the fourth, or sympathetic, part, and then you will all burst out aloud and cry and groan as I proceed to a close; the moment I stop, raise and throw your arms around your wife's neck, and kiss the baby." They returned into court. The jury impanneled- the evidence given. It was conclusive against the prisoner. The prosecuting attorney opened briefly. Letcher arose, all eyes upon him-" If the Court please, gentlemen of the jury, look at my client; look at his poor wife and little babe; look at their aged and afflicted parents, sinking to their graves ! Oh! gentlemen, can you find it in your hearts to send him to the penitentiary ?"
As he uttered the last word, the prisoner set up a loud howl, raised up, stepped forward and threw his arms around the neck of his wife and kissed the babe with all his might, while all the rest of the rela- tives joined in the chorus. The Court .- " What does all this mean ?" Letcher .- " Only a mistake your honor ; my client mistook the histori- cal for the sympathetic part of my speech ; that is all." But the play was over, the curtain fell on a verdict and judgment of " guilty "-two years in the penitentiary. Letcher returned to Kentucky, where he said the prisoners could tell the difference between the " historical and sympathetic " parts of a speech.
BAD CONSEQUENCE OF CHANGING SHIRTS.
THE thousand and one amusing incidents that occurred on the cir- cuit, with the bar, will never find their way to paper. I may be excused, however, on account of the parties, for rescuing one of them from the common fate. James Whitcomb, Calvin Fletcher, Harvey Gregg and Hiram Brown, of the Indianapolis bar, " put up," as we say in the West, at the tavern of Capt. John Berry at Anderson-
-
75
BAD CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING SIIIRTS.
town. Whitcomb was a perfect gentleman in his person and dress. He must shave every morning and put on a clean shirt; but as it was difficult to get washing done on the circuit, he put several clean shirts in his portmanteau and carried a night-shirt to sleep in, always chan- ging as he went to bed. Mr. Fletcher was a great wag, continually annoying Mr. Whitcomb, and sometimes others, with innocent tricks. Capt. Berry prided himself upon his tavern, and would often boast that " there might be better houses in New York, so far as the table was concerned, but as to his beds they could not be excelled in the United States ; that he had been to the great Astor House, before he opened, to see how things were done. Ile had not been at the table a minute before they presented his bill, and an impudent waiter asked him if he would have tea or coffee, and when he told him he would take tea, he asked him what kind of tea; he said " store tea, to be sure." The Captain had traveled the whole length of Broadway on Sunday ; was invited into church while the organs were playing, but excused himself on the ground that he " never danced, and if he did, he would not dance on Sunday." A single word against his tavern, his table, or his lodging room, was taken by the Captain as a great insult, and immediately resented without regard to persous. Fletcher knew the Captain well. They were intimate friends. Taking the Captain to one side Fletcher said, " Do you know, Capt. Berry, what Mr. Whit- eomb is saying about your beds?" "I do not-what did he say ?" " If you will not mention my name, as you are my particular friend, I will tell you." " Upon honor I will never mention your name- what did he say ?" "He said your sheets were so dirty that he had to pull off his shirt every night and put on a dirty shirt to sleep in." " I'll watch him to night." Bedtime came. Captain Berry was look- ing through the opening of the door when Mr. Whitcomb took his night-shirt out of his portmanteau, and began to take off his day shirt. Captain Berry pushed open the door, sprang upon Whitcomb, and threw him upon the bed. The noise brought in Mr. Fletcher and the other lawyers, and after explanations and apologies on all sides the matter was settled. But Mr. Whiteomb, years afterward, as he told me, found out what he suspected at the time, that Mr. Fletcher was at the bottom of the whole matter.
76
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
[SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 8, 1857.
AN EARLY LEGISLATURE IN INDIANA.
IN August 1822, I was elected to the Legislature from Fayette, and late in November mounted my pony and started for Corydon, the tem- porary seat of government. My way led by Madison, then a small village. Late in the evening of the third day from home, I rode up to a little frame house, about the center of the town, to which I was directed as the only botel. My horse was taken at the steps by a slim, flaxen-haired youth of a hostler. I had a first-rate supper, a sweet, elean bed, a good breakfast, and left on my journey in the morning, the landlord, as I supposed, being from home. The next Monday the House of Representatives met in the old court-house at Corydon. John F. Ross, the clerk, called the roll ; "County of Jefferson," when to my surprise, my flaxen-headed hostler stepped forward, in the per- son of Gen. Milton Stapp, in after years Lieutenant Governor, and one of the most distinguished men of the State. The roll calling progressed, as I stood by the side of the General he bowed and smiled. The " County of Vanderburgh and Warriek : " I saw advancing a slender, freckled-faced boy, in appearance eighteen or twenty years of age. I marked his step as he came up to my side, and have often noticed his air since. It was Gen. Joseph Lane, of Mexican and Oregon fame in after years. The house was composed mostly of new members, and was said to be the greenest ever convened in the State, myself included. We had, however, a few who would pass even at the present day. Gen. Stapp, Isaac Howk, Horace Bassett. John Dumont, Isaac Julian, Pinkney James, Gen. Burnett, William A. Bullock, Lucius H. Scott, Dennis Pennington, Benjamin V. Beekes, Dr. Sylvanius Everts, Nathaniel Hunt, and others. The session lasted six weeks, and perhaps no Legislature ever met and adjourned in the State, doing less harm .- There were a few measures, however, in which I took an active part, that may bear mentioning. The poll-tax system was first established, the exemption in favor of widows, of personal estate to the value of one hundred dollars, from the debts of deceased hus- bands ; and the act giving a representation to " the new purchase, " to strengthen the middle and northern parts of the State, in passing the law for the removal of the seat of government from Corydon to Indian- apolis. This latter act was warmly contested, debated weeks and finally passed by a very close vote. The first constitution provided that "Corydon in Harrison county, shall be the seat of government of the State of Indiana, until the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five, and until removed by law." It further provided, " the General
77
AN ELECTIONEERING OPERATION.
Assembly may, within two years after their first meeting, and shall in the year eighteen hundred and twenty-five, and every other subsequent term of five years, cause an enumeration to be made, of all the white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years ; the number of Representatives shall at the several periods of making such enumeration be fixed by the General Assembly, and apportioned among the several connties." The question was whether it was competent for the Leg- islature to take the census and make the apportionment at any inter- mediate time, or whether it could only be done at the expiration of every five years. We carried the bill in favor of the first construction, and the seat of government was removed years sooner than it would otherwise have been. We had little important business before us ; Gov. Hendricks was inaugurated, and Judge Parke elected to revise the laws.
AN ELECTIONEERING OPERATION.
AN incident occurred in the election of Treasurer of State that may be instructive to candidates. Daniel C. Lane was the incumbent .- There was no tangible objection against him as an officer, but it was rumored that he could see a short rich man over the head of a tall poor man. His competitor was Samuel Merrill, then of Vevay, after- ward for years Treasurer of State, and President of the State Bank. The day for the election was not fixed. I was among the warm friends of Mr. Merrill. Our prospects for his election were very poor- chances as ten to one against us. Mr. Lane, as was the custom, began his course of entertainments, and, as his house was small, he only invited to his first dinner the Senators and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Gen. Washington Johnston,-intending, no doubt, to feast the members of the House on some other evening before the election.
Next morning the House met, and a few of ns understanding each other passed around among the uninitiated, and soon had them in a per- fect state of excitement against Lane. The time had now come, and I introduced a resolution inviting the Senate to go into the election instanter. The resolution was reciprocated, and down came the Senate. The joint convention was immediately held, and Mr. Merrill was elected by a large majority, the Senators voting for Mr. Lane and the members of the House for Mr Merrill, who made the State a first-rate officer. The Legislature adjourned, and I returned home through the woods. This ended my legislative career in the State, as I was never afterward a candidate.
78
EARLY INDIANA TRIALS.
A GREAT HYPOCRITE.
MY youngest brother, afterward Jndge Septimus Smith, was a stu- dent in my office at Connersville. On my return from Corydon, I learned that his beautiful strawberry-roan horse had been stolen from the stable in my absence. He advertised the animal in a number of papers and traveled through the country in search of him, but got no tidings of him until some six months afterward, when Jacob Reed happened to sce the horse in a drove in North Carolina, knew him at sight, and learned from the owner of the drove that he had bought the horse at Urbana, Ohio, from a man from Connersville, and de- scribed Charles Donovan, a school-teacher and Methodist exhorter. We thought hest, in consequence of the good character of Donovan to say nothing about it. My brother went to Urbana and got the horse. But the end was not yet. The Rev. James Conwell kept store at Somerset now Laurel, on Whitewater; Donovan had ingra- tiated himself into the good graces of Mr. Conwell, who was a good, unsuspecting religious man, and an ardent Methodist preacher. Donovan would frequently attend the meetings of Mr. Conwell, was a fine singer and often closed the meetings. Mr. Conwell had a clerk, a respectable young man, by the name of Williams in the store, who suspected Donovan of taking money out of the drawer of the store, and named it to Mr. Conwell, in confidence. With some hesitation it was suggested by Mr. Conwell, that they would bore an augur-hole over the drawer, in the floor of the upper room, and the next time Donovan came to the store the clerk should leave some counted change in the drawer and step out, go up to the hole quietly, leaving Donovan in the store. The plan was adopted, Williams saw Donovan take the change out of the drawer and stated the fact to Conwell. I was the State's attor- ney at the time. About midnight the same night I was called up by Mr. Conwell and the facts stated. I recommended that another chance should be given to Donovan, with another witness at the hole, as I feared that Williams might be charged with taking the money, and putting the theft on Donovan, and as the character of Donovan was established, and Williams was but a young man, it might end in the discharge of Donovan and the ruin of Williams. Mr. Conwell, how- ever, urged the arrest of Donovan. I prepared the papers and Dono- van was arrested before morning, in his bed. He protested his innocence, charged Williams with the theft, gave bail for his appear- ance, and brought suit against Conwell and Williams for slander. Thus stood the case until within a few weeks before court, when Donovan was missing. His bail followed him to Cincinnati and found his name registered on a boat for New Orleans. The well-known
79
ANECDOTE OF GOV. WHITCOMB.
voice of Donovan was heard in the drinking-saloon, cursing and swear- ing, and, as the bail entered, he recled against the side of the door and fell drunk upon the floor. He was brought back by his bail, and delivered up to the Sheriff and put in jail. Court came on. He was indicted, tried, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary two years. The actions of slander were dismissed, and Donovan confessed to my brother that he had stolen his horse and sold him in Urbana.
ANECDOTE OF GOV. WHITCOMB.
IN the winter of 1823, as I was about to leave Indianapolis for home, James Whiteomb told me he was going to Ohio, and wished to travel with me. Of course I was glad to have company, as the path led through the woods, and there were but three houses between Indian- apolis and Whitewater. After an early breakfast we started, both riding good horses, intending to reach Dille's, on Blue River, near where Knightstown now stands. Some hours after night, to our much joy we saw the light at the cabin, rode up, and as we dismounted the sound of a fiddle saluted us. Entering the cabin, there sat before the fire a lame young man by the name of Amos Dille, with an old violin in his hand, scraping away, making any thing but music. He laid the violin on the bed, and started with our horses to the stable. As he closed the door, Mr. Whitcomb took it up, soon put it in tune, and when Amos returned was playing light and beautiful airs. Amos took his seat by me, seemingly entranced, and as Mr. Whitcomb struck up " Hail Columbia, " he sprang to his feet. "If I had fifty dollars I would give it all for that fiddle; I never heard such music before in my life." After playing several tunes Mr. Whitcomb laid the instrument on the bed. Amos seized it, carried it to the fire where he could see it, turned it over and over, examined every part, and sang out, " Mister, I never saw two fiddles so much alike as yours and mine." Gov. Whiteomb was one of the finest performers on the violin I ever heard.
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.