USA > Indiana > Henry County > Hazzard's history of Henry county, Indiana, 1822-1906, Volume II > Part 57
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During the last thirty years of James Brown's career as a lawyer he controlled a large and lucrative business, appearing on one side or the other of almost every im- portant action in the circuit court, and also doing a large business in the Superior, Appellate and Supreme courts of the State, and in the United States District and Circuit courts. He was an advocate of singular persistence in hehalf of his clients. Once thoroughly interested in behalf of a client, he clung to his cause and fought it out, inch by inch, as long as he could see a reasonable hope of success, often winning his point in the court of last resort. He made no pretenses to oratory and never built upon the chance of carrying a jury away by some impassioned appeal not justified by the logic of the case as disclosed by the evidence. . If the evidence was bad for his client's cause, he either assailed it and the witness who gave it, with denunciation and ridicule, or sought to render it nugatory by a logical analysis of the whole evidence given, which seemed to render the unfavorable testimony so highly improbable as to destroy its weight. He was a fighter before a jury and contested every movement that even re- motely hinted of danger to his client. It was this quality of armed watchfulne's and
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steadfastness to his clients that made him a successful advocate whose services were always in demand.
Among those who read law under Mr. Brown may be mentioned his former part- ner, Robert L. Polk; two nephews, Joseph M. and Samuel Hadley Brown, sons of his oldest brother, Moses Brown; George L. Koons, John C. Denny, William O. Barnard, John C. Billheimer, Edwin E. Parker, Adolph Rogers, Charles S. Hernly, William A. Brown, his son, and many others.
James Brown was married to Elizabeth Alice Carpenter, a daughter of William Carpenter, of Wayne County, Indiana, in 1852. She seems to have been admirably fitted to be the life companion of a studious, aspiring man like Mr. Brown, and with her he lived happily all the remainder of his life. Mrs. Brown did not long survive her hus- band. She died at the beautiful home of the family on East Broad Street, New Castle, Indiana, August 9, 1897, five months and seventeen days after the death of her husband.
James and Elizabeth Alice (Carpenter) Brown were the parents of three children, namely: Mary A. Brown, who married William H. Albright, a gallant Union soldier of Company F, 84th Indiana Infantry, who, after the conclusion of peace, was a photog- rapher in New Castle, with whom she lived happily until his death, March 14, 1905, and whom she survives; William Asbury Brown, the only son; and Fannie A. Brown, now Mrs. Percy W. Liveston, of Indianapolis, Indiana, who for some time held a re- sponsible position with her father's firm, and was his amanuensis and typewriter up to the time of his demise.
James Brown was greatly attached to his home, which he had established at the northeast corner of Broad and Nineteenth streets, in New Castle, where he erected a com- modious house and filled the large yard with trees, improving it, year after year, until it had become one of the prettiest and most desirable homes in the little city, fully justify ing his affection for and pride in it, and there his children were reared in the midst of pleasant and happy surroundings.
In 1867 the old frame house which he owned east of the northeast corner of Main and Broad streets, New Castle, in which his office was situated, burned down, throwing him out of an office; but his father urged him to rebuild and offered him the necessary assistance, so that joining with his brother-in-law, Dr. Isaac Mendenhall, the twain erected the two-story brick building, known as the Brown and Mendenhall Block, upon the second floor of which the Brown and Brown law office has been so long maintained. James Brown, like his father, pinned his financial faith to real estate and acquired two good farms, one a mile west of New Castle, known as the Slatter farm, and another two miles south of New Castle, both of which he improved and still owned at the time of his death.
In politics he was in early life an old-time Whig, but always opposed the institu- tion of slavery and its encroachments upon free territory, hence he naturally fell into the Republican party, upon its first organization, and engaged actively in the propagation of its views, upon the stump and otherwise. During the war for the preservation of the Union, he was an active supporter of the government and so continued after the war, supporting the reconstruction measures, including the constitutional amendments. In the early 'seventies, however, he became at variance with his party and its measures, and though never as active in politics thereafter as before, he gave his support to the De- mocracy during the remainder of his life.
In religion he was more a believer in the religion of life and character than of creed, and was never active in church membership, though endorsing the high morality and uplifting power of the law of love taught by the New Testament.
The death of Mr. Brown came without warning on February 22, 1897. He and his daughter, Fannie A., were at the residence of his son, William A. Brown, across Broad Street from their home, where he was dictating a brief to her, which she was typewrit- ing rapidly, when suddenly the dictation ceased and the daughter looked up question- ingly only to meet the silent stare of her dead father. His heart had ceased to act and thus, without warning and without pain, had the busy lawyer passed on from the activities and cares of life.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
l'he funeral was held at the family home on February 24, 1897, and was very largely attended by members of the bar from Henry and adjoining counties. On the day of the funeral a largely attended meeting of the bar was held in the court room at New Castle, which was presided over by David W. Chambers. Speeches were made, appreciative of the life, character and professional career of Mr. Brown, by Martin L. Bundy, of New Castle; Charles G. Offutt and Ephraim Marsh, of Greenfield; Benjamin F. Mason, of Wayne County; Eugene H. Bundy, Mark E. Forkner, David W. Chambers, James T. Mellett, Horace L. Burr, Leander P. Mitchell, and Charles N. Mikels, of the Henry County bar, and Messrs. Offutt, Marsh, Mason, Eugene H. Bundy, Chambers, and Judge George L. Koons, of the Delaware Circuit Court, were selected as pall bearers. The funeral was conducted by the Reverend H. J. Norris, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the interment was at South Mound Cemetery.
At the meeting of the bar, an appropriate memorial, reported and read by Adolph Rogers, was adopted by a rising vote of all persons present, which, after speaking of the high abilities of the deceased, declared that "his fame as a lawyer is secure," and added its endorsement of his life as a citizen, his interest in public affairs, his patriotism and spoke of his interest in and love for the writings of the best authors, in which "he often surprised his hearers by apt quotations; and while he made no pretense to oratory. he was logical and convincing before a jury, being possessed of certain peculiarities of manner and thought which made his personality a marked one." It closed with the following tribute to his personal character:
"But it was in his home life that he appeared at his best. His tenderness and love for his wife and children and grandchildren were deep and abiding. No sacrifice was too great for him to make for them. To see them happy was the object of his life. The deep, parental pride which he felt in the success of his son and partner in the law was a marked and touching trait in his character. In return his family lavished upon him their purest affections. His life work is done. He achieved success, as the world notes success. He had reached the topmost round in his profession and had won success in its broadest sense, in that he had led a just and upright life, and after life's arduous lahors, he rests in peace."
The New Castle Weekly Courier of February 25, 1897, said of Mr. Brown: "Pos- sessed of a wonderfully analytic legal mind, he was a skillful and competent lawyer and his opinions were much sought after by others of his profession, and his death will be a great loss to those who sought his counsel and to the bar of Eastern Indiana."
A contributor to the New Castle Courier, in its issue of March 14, 1897, spoke of Mr. Brown's knowledge of literature and noted especially his love for the poetry of George Crabbe, an English poet, now much neglected, and said that while he had the same love of liberty and the same aversion to slavery as John G. Whittier, yet he did not care for that poet's ringing and impassioned verse. Had that contributor known that Robert Burns was also a favorite of Mr. Brown's, he might have been confused to account for his love for two poets of such opposite qualities as Crabbe and Burns, while rejecting a poet like Whittier, whose genius was so near akin to that of Burns. But here again was one of those peculiarities of Mr. Brown's tastes and habits of thought which tended to make him conspicuous among men.
The same contributor said further:
"It would surprise many to know the extent of Mr. Brown's reading and researches in religious matters aud his thoughtful and careful consideration of the historical evi- dences of Christianity. Few men seemed to be more at home in the discussion of such matters than he, yet he did not intrude his knowledge of and peculiar views concerning them upon unwilling ears."
Speaking of his want of scholastic training and wondering what he might have attained to had his educational opportunities been hetter, the same writer added this conclusion :
"But no college training, no favoring condition could have made a Franklin, a Cromwell, au Abraham Lincoln, or a Hugh Miller: neither could it have made the country lawyer, James Brown, who. by dint of his individuality and indomitable perse- verance, wrote his name high upon the roster of professional success."
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
WILLIAM ASBURY BROWN.
( Son.)
William Asbury Brown, the only son of James and Elizabeth Alice (Carpenter) Brown, who was horn at New Castle, Indiana, March 13, 1854, has himself won a fine success at the bar and in politics. He was his father's efficient partner during the later years of his legal career, and succeeds the old firm of Brown and Brown and retains its large practise. In 1887 and again in 1889, he was elected a member of the lower house of the General Assembly of Indiana and served both terms with credit to the county and with distinction to himself. He is now in possession of a large and lucrative legal prac- tise in the Circuit and higher courts.
His wife is a beautiful and accomplished lady who commands the friendship and respect of the entire community. She is a daughter of William Ribble, of Delaware County, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. William A. Brown are the parents of an interesting family of children, two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Paul, is now engaged in his father's office and seems likely to uphold the reputation of the family in its chosen field of the law. The younger son bears the name of his grandfather. James. The two daughters are named respectively Ruth and Winifred.
Mark
6. Forknen
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MARK E. FORKNER.
LAWYER, LEGISLATOR AND JUDGE.
The Forkner family, according to tradition, are of Welsh descent, but just when this family emigrated to America is not definitely known. It is certain, however, that William Forkner, the great-grandfather of Mark E. Forkner, settled at a very early period in North Carolina and was of some prominence in the affairs of that State. Isaac Forkner, the grandfather, moved from Surrey County, North Carolina, about 1812, to Grayson County, Virginia, where the family abided for several years and where Micajah Forkner, father of Mark E., was born in 1814. In 1819 Isaac Forkner moved from Vir- ginia to Indiana, settling near Centreville, in Wayne County. In 1822 he once more moved, this time to Henry County, Indiana, settling in Liberty Township on a farm now owned and occupied by Frank Phelman, one mile south of the present site of Mill- ville. He was a soldier of the War of 1812-15 and for his service in that conflict re- ceived a government land warrant.
Jesse Forkner, uncle of Mark E., came to Henry County at the same time as his father, Isaac, and located on what was afterwards known as the John B. Crull farm, in Liberty Township. The lands entered by him are described as follows: east halt, south- west quarter, section twenty-four, entered November 12, 1821; and the west half, south- west quarter, section 24, entered December 10, 1827: the whole comprising one hundred and sixty acres. Jesse Forkner was collector for Henry County in 1827 and was sheriff of the county for two terms, August 14, 1829, to August 19, 1831, and from August 19, 1831, to August 5, 1833: During his official career as sheriff he was very persistent in collecting fines assessed against non-combatants for refusal to perform militia service and thereby incurred the displeasure of the Friends or Quakers, who were conscientiously opposed to bearing arms and who would rather lose their all than to engage in conflict with their own or their country's enemies. A great change in such matters has taken place among the Friends since those days. During the Civil War, the government had no warmer supporters than the Quakers and most of the peculiarities that distinguished them in those early times have been discarded by the Friends of the present day.
Micajah Forkner, the father of the subject of this sketch, was twice married, first, in 1835, to Elizabeth Allen, who died in 1849. His second wife was Margaret A. Jordan, to whom he was married in 1852. The children by the first wife were: Granville H., now a resident of Auburn, Indiana; William B., now a resident of Hartford City, In- diana; Thomas Benton, deceased; Mary A., widow of the late Samuel Winings, who now resides in New Castle; John Larue, commonly called "Jack," of Anderson, Indiana; Mark E., the subject of this sketch; and one child, Allen, who died in infancy. Gran- ville H. Forkner has resided for a number of years at Auburn and was at one time the postmaster of the place. William B., of Hartford City, was elected and served one term as treasurer of Blackford County, and John Larue (Jack) has had honors thrust upon him by the city of Anderson and the people of Madison County. He is now the very popular mayor of that city and his name has been mentioned as one that might head the Democratic ticket for Governor of the State. Thomas B., prior to his death, was a young practising physician and had before him a promising future. Of the four living brothers, it should be noted as a rather remarkable fact that two, Granville H. and Mark E., are Republicans, while the other two, William B. and John Larue, are Demo- crats; and to this should be added the further unusual circumstance that all four held official positions in their several communities. at nearly the same time.
The children of Micajah Forkner hy his second wife were: Elizabeth Caroline, now Mrs. John Thornburgh, of Hagerstown, Indiana; Belle, now Mrs. Lue Hoover, of Indianap- olis: Morna, now Mrs. Hiram Eshelman, of Greenfield, Indiana; Charles, of Hagerstown, Indiana: and two boys, Lawrence and Burk, both of whom died in early childhood. Lawrence was an unusually bright and interesting child and his death was a source of great sorrow to his parents. The grandfather, the father and the children, who are de-
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
ceased, are buried in the Chicago Cemetery, about two miles southeast of Millville, on Symons Creek; the mother is buried in Salem Baptist Church Cemetery, on Martindale Creek, in Wayne County.
MARK E. FORKNER.
Mark E. Forkner was born in Liberty Township, Henry County, Indiana, January 26, 1846. His childhood days were like those of the average country hoy. He was a stout and sturdy youth, endowed with good, common sense and possessed of a natural ambition which gradually shaper the course of his life. His education was begun in the country or district schools and was completed by attendance for three years at the then well known New Castle Academy. While attending the last named school, he was also engaged in reading law in the office of Joshua H. Mellett, and to secure the means to complete his education, he also, for about three months of each year, taught school, first, at the Stout schoolhouse, east of New Castle; then at the schoolhouse at that time located a little north of the present town of Mooreland; and lastly, at Greensboro, in 1866, where he was associated with Joseph W. Worl, now of Oklahoma Territory.
Under his able and distinguished preceptor, he prosecuted the study of the law with such characteristic zeal and energy that he was admitted to the bar in 1866 and entered at once upon a professional career. By close application to his profession, he steadily advanced in the esteem of his brother lawyers and of the people of the com- munity, until he now stands in the front rank, not only of the har of Henry County, but of the bar of Central and Eastern Indiana as well.
In the Winter of 1866-7, he was appointed deputy district attorney for the county of Henry, and in the Spring of 1867, he formed a partnership with his former preceptor, Joshua H. Mellett, and this association continued until 1870, when the latter was elected judge of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, which comprised the counties of Henry, Del- aware, Grant and Hancock. This partnership had been very agreeable to both of the partners and especially profitable to Mr. Forkner, bringing him not only financial gain, but also a greatly widened experience in practical affairs.
Soon after the dissolution of his partnership with Mr. Mellett, hy reason of the latter's elevation to the bench, Mr. Forkner and Eugene H. Bundy associated themselves together in the practise of the law. Born in the same year and destined to similar publie careers, this period of their lives may well he considered one of happy angury to each. Pitting themselves against the veterans of the profession, they conducted a practise of constantly increasing size and importance and established their standing and reputation as able lawyers and skillful practitioners. Besides this, each had gained that invaluable knowledge of men and of affairs which has so well illustrated their later careers. This partnership was destined to be dissolved after six years of the most agreeable relations. In 1876, upon the retirement of Judge Joshua H. Mellett from the bench, Mr. Bundy withdrew from the firm to enter partnership with Mellett, and Mr. Forkner continued the practise alone until he was appointed judge, as noted below.
Mark E. Forkner has always been a Republican in politics and from his first entry into public affairs has taken a more or less active part in political campaigns, local, State and National. In 1874 he was elected by the Republicans of Henry County as a member of the lower house of the General Assembly of Indiana, forty eighth session, serving one term. He took part in all of the deliberations of that body and discharged his duties with fidelity to his constituents and with credit to himself. He also served in a special session, March 9 to March 14, 1875. Now he, who by his own unaided efforts had achieved an enviable position in his profession and stood well in the councils of his party, was ready for higher honors. When Rohert Lindsey Polk died, May 7, 1881, and the office of judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, composed of Henry and Han- cock counties, thereby became vacant, Mr. Forkner, on May 11th following, was appointed by Governor Albert G. Porter to fill the vacancy, and at the ensuing election, in the Fall of 1882, he was chosen for the full term of six years. This high and honorable position he filled with signal ability and to the entire satisfaction of the people whom he so ably and impartially served. The fact has already been pointed out elsewhere in this History that the citizens of Henry County, who have been raised to the bench, have uniformly,
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
since the organization of the county, maintained a standard of excellence in their posi- tions, second to the judiciary of no other county of the State, and it is with commendable pride that the names of Jehu T. Elliott, Josnua H. Mellett, Robert Lindsey Polk, Mark E. Forkner, Eugene H. Bundy, William O. Barnard and the present judge of the Henry Circuit Court, John M. Morris, are mentioned.
Upon his retirement from the bench, Judge Forkner, still young in years, resumed the practise of the law and from that time his career as a lawyer and advocate has been one of great activity. His practise extends to all parts of Central and Eastern Indiana. He also has an extensive practise before the United States Circuit and District Courts at Indianapolis. He now has, as a partner in his business, his son, George D. Forkner, of whom mention is again made at another point in this sketch.
Judge Forkner is a quick thinker and a fast talker, when on his feet. He is a pow- erful speaker and his talents are not confined to legal arguments nor to appeals to court and jury. So well informed and happily trained in his mind that he illumines any subject which may be presented for his consideration.
On June 22, 1869, Mark E. Forkner married Rebecca Donahoo, at the residence of Stephen and Caroline ( Donahoo) Elliott, two miles south of New Castle, the ceremony being performed by the Reverend Milton Mahin. This was a union of two happily dis- positioned people and the whole course of their married life has been marked by mutual love, regard and esteem. The door of their home is always open and within its portals their friends are given cordial welcome and from their table is dispensed the old fash- ioned hospitality of our forefathers which is now seldom known.
Judge and Mrs. Forkner are the parents of two children, namely: George Donahoo, born March 28, 1876; and Caroline, born October 14, 1879. These two children are both graduates of the High School, New Castle, and of the Indiana State University, Bloom- ington. They are thoroughly educated and accomplished young people, gracious in man- ner, delightful entertainers and general favorites. The son, George Donahoo, during his attendance at the Indiana State University, pursued not only the regular college course, but at the same time studied law in the law department of the university. After his graduation from college, he returned to his home and finished his law studies in the office of his father. He was admitted to the bar in October, 1899, and is now the junior member of the law firm of Forkner and Forkner. Like his father at his age, he has the world before him in which to lose or conquer. Elsewhere in this History will be found a full biographical sketch of Jobn L. Forkner, wherein further reference is made to the Forkner family.
ANCESTRY OF REBECCA ( DONAHOO) FORKNER.
The parents of Mrs. Mark E. (Donahoo) Forkner were Jeremiah and Caroline (Parkinson) Donahoo. They came to Indiana from Licking County, Ohio, and settled north of Anderson, Madison County, but later moved to that city, where they lived the remainder of their lives. To them were born three children, namely: Rebecca, now the wife of Mark E. Forkner, the subject of this sketch; Almeda, now the wife of Nathan Nicholson, a retired farmer, living in New Castle; and Martha, now the wife of Jacob Lowe, a well known and prosperous farmer, living north of New Castle.
On December 6, 1859, after the death of her first husband, Mrs. Caroline ( Parkin- son) Donahoo was united in marriage with the late Stephen Elliott, a Henry County pioneer, residing two miles south of New Castle. They had one child, Mary, now the wife of William C. Bond, manufacturer of handles, New Castle, Indiana. Mrs. Elliott died November 22, 1885, and Mr. Elliott died December 4, 1896. The former is buried in South Mound Cemetery and the latter in the Elliott Cemetery.
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HAZZARD'S HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF EUGENE HALLECK BUNDY.
LAWYER, LEGISLATOR AND JUDGE.
Eugene Halleck Bundy is a native Hoosier, having been born at New Castle, In- diana, October 10, 1846. His father, Judge Martin L. Bundy, was one of the earliest pioneers of Eastern Indiana and is the oldest living member of the Henry County har. Of him it can be said that no man, other than himself, has done so much to preserve the history of Henry County. He is possessed of a marvelous memory and recalls without effort events of long ago with perfect accuracy as to names and dates. He wields a ready pen and has furnished the community, which his long and honorable life has so signally honored, with an invaluable fund of information relating to the early affairs of the county, civil and political, which would otherwise he irretrievably lost. For nearly ninety years or almost a century has he gone in and out before this people and has left the impress of his vigorous personality upon their minds and hearts. In honoring him, posterity honors itself.
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