History of Cass County, Indiana : From the earliest time to the present, Part 27

Author: Helm, Thomas B., 1822-1889, ed; Brant and Fuller, Chicago (Ill.), pub
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Brant and Fuller
Number of Pages: 984


USA > Indiana > Cass County > History of Cass County, Indiana : From the earliest time to the present > Part 27


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James W. Dunn was one of the early attorneys at this bar, but in consequence of his election to the office of justice of the peace in the city, and long continuance therein, his practice in the higher courts was necessarily limited.


Spier S. Tipton became a practicing lawyer by admission to the bar of our court. Being educated in the military schools his pro- ficiency in the science of arms detracted considerably from his suc- cess in the department of law. He served as prosecuting attorney in this circuit one term of two years. When war was declared against Mexico, he was one among the first to raise a company of volunteers for service in that country. He did not go to the seat of war with that company, but, receiving a commission as lieutenant in the regular army, he returned, recruited another company for that branch of the service, and with it went to Mexico and partici- pated in many of the battles of that war, and afterward died while the war continued in progress.


Williamson Wright, brother of John W., was admitted on the 10th of August, 1835, and became a very successful and popular lawyer. For many years he and John S. Patterson controlled a large proportion of the court business, but afterward being engaged in other business he abandoned the practice of law.


George W. Blakemore was admitted to practice as an attorney


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at the same time with Mr. Wright, and for many years afterward was interested in a fair share of the legal business that came before the court for adjudication. He was subsequently elected and served one term as auditor of the county, having previously represented Cass County two terms in the State Legislature. He died about two years ago.


John S. Patterson was admitted on the 8th of February, 1836. He was a superior office lawyer, and being associated for several years with Williamson Wright the firm did a very extensive busi- ness. A few years later he went to New York where he died less than one year ago.


Hon. Daniel D. Pratt, having completed the study of law with Calvin Fletcher, of Indianapolis, early in the year 1836 came to Logansport, was admitted to the bar here on the 9th of August of that year, and immediately entered upon a very successful and lucrative practice. He was studions, careful and judicious in the preparation of his legal papers, painstaking and thorough in their presentation to the court, and frequently secured verdicts at the hands of a jury by skillful and elaborate arguments, which were pre- sented with great magnetic force. Eminently popular in the prac- tice of his profession he was equally so as a man and citizen, rep- resenting the people of this county one term in the State Legisla- ture and the State of Indiana in the Senate of the United States. In both these positions his characteristic energy and industry were everywhere manifest. He died on the 17th of June, 1877, at the age of sixty-four years.


Hon. William Z. Stuart came to Logansport at nearly the same time with Mr. Pratt, having partly completed his studies elsewhere. He was admitted to practice here on the 20th of February, 1837. From 1843, he served one term as prosecuting attorney in this circuit, and discharged the duties pertaining to that office with signal ability. During the period of his practice, which took a very wide range, he was ranked among the most thorough and logical lawyers in the State. At the time of his death, and several years anterior thereto, he was principal attorney for the Wabash Railway Company. From 1853 to 1857, he served one term as judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Indiana with distinguished credit to himself and the profession he honored.


Hon. Horace P. Biddle, upon attaining his majority entered the


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law office of Hocking H. Hunter, of Lancaster, Ohio, where he diligently pursued his studies under that eminent lawyer until April, 1839, when he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio, at Cincinnati. In October of the same year he came to Logansport, and subsequently located here. He was admitted to the bar of the Cass Circuit Court on the 14th of May, 1840, and continued to practice in this and other judicial circuits of the State until 1846, when he was commissioned as president judge of this circuit, and resumed practice again in 1852, continuing thereafter until he was re-elected to the judgeship of this circuit in 1861. At the end of his judicial career he retired.


Hon. John B. Dillon, after completing a course of study here, was admitted to the bar of the Cass Circuit Court at the same time with Mr. Biddle, May 14, 1840. Inasmuch, however, as his time was chiefly occupied with editorial and other literary labors, he gave little attention to the practice of law, since that did not seem to be in consonance with his intellectual makeup. At the time of his ad- mission, and for some time after, he was engaged in the preparation of matter to be incorporated in the publication of an elaborate His- tory of the State of Indiana. The first volume of the work, as orig- inally contemplated, was published and given to the world in 1843. Some years later, he published a revised and enlarged edition of the Territorial History of Indiana and an outline history of the State's progress. He was a man of fine taste and considerable lit- erary ability.


Hon. Charles B. Lasselle was a student in the office of Hon. D. D. Pratt, and admitted to the bar in the fall of 1842. In 1847 he was elected prosecuting attorney in this judicial circuit, and served one term of three years with a fair measure of success. From 1862 to 1866 he represented Cass County in the lower house of the State Legislature, and from 1868 to 1872 in the State Senate. He also held the office of mayor of the city of Logansport one term, ending in May, 1885. In all these several relations he sustained the repu- tation of an honest and discreet legislator and official. He is also en- titled to much credit for his collection and preservation of ancient records and other data pertaining to the early history of the North- west, and of the great Wabash Valley in particular.


Hon. Jacques M. Lasselle, brother of Charles B., was an early student of the law and admitted to practice in the circuit court of this


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county on the 1st of September, 1841. His legal ability was above the average of that day, and in his limited practice acquitted himself creditably. In 1851, he served part of one term as judge of the probate court of this county with credit, but ill health, which resulted in his death, prevented the complete fulfillment of the pre- scribed term of service. He was an antiquarian of more than or- dinary activity and energy, and devoted much time to the collection and preservation of literary and other relics, of which he possessed many of rare value.


Benjamin W. Peters, was a student in the office of his uncle, Hon. Horace P. Biddle, and was admitted to practice in 1845. Soon after he became a member of the law firm of Biddle & Peters which continued, except during the interim of his service in the Mexican war and the judgeship of the senior partner, until the time of his death, which occurred May 22, 1875. While not a brilliant lawyer he was generally a successful one. The number and importance of canses in which he was interested as counsel would compare favor- ably with any other member of the Cass County bar.


Lewis Chamberlin was originally licensed to practice law by the Supreme Court of the State of New York. He came to Logansport early in 1851, and on the 17th of February of that year became a member of the Cass County bar, and by his critical knowledge of the law and energy of character soon occupied a high position among the leading lights of the profession in the State. Later in life, however, and in the midst of a lucrative practice, a shadow passed over his intellectual horizon, shutting out its light forever. He died while comparatively a young man, in 1874.


Hon. Samuel L. McFadin was a student in the office of Hon. William Z. Stuart, and subsequently was admitted to practice on May 10, 1852. Upon the taking effect of the act establishing the court of common pleas, he was elected district prosecutor, and served out one term as such, and in 1856 was elected judge of that court, and occupied the bench during a term of four years. After- ward he was repeatedly chosen to represent this county in the State Legislature, and during the course of his official life filled the office of mayor of the city of Logansport. In 1876 he was elected clerk of the circuit court, and served two full terms as such.


Stephen C. Taber, who, for two years or more previously, was a student in the office of Hon. D. D. Pratt, on the 9th of November,


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1852, was admitted to the bar, and soon after became the law part- ner of his late preceptor, under the firm name of Pratt & Taber. The practice of the firm was very extensive, commanding the exer- cise of a high order of talent on the part of both. Mr. Taber, upon the death of his father, which occurred in April, 1855, retired from practice to engage in the settlement of his father's immense estate, as executor, to which trust he was appointed by the decedent's will.


The Bench .- Hon. Bethuel F. Morris, of Marion County, as Pres- ident Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of Indiana, com- posed then of the counties of Hendricks, Morgan, Monroe, Bartholo- mew, Johnson, Marion, Hancock, Shelby, Decatur, Rush, Henry, Mad- ison, Hamilton, Carroll and Cass, appeared in the last named county, pursuant to the law defining the limits of said circuit, and prescrib- ing the time of holding courts in said several counties, on Thursday next, succeeding to third Monday in May (21st), 1829, and pro- ceeded to the organization of our Cass Circuit Court, as elsewhere fully recorded. Again, on the Thursday next succeeding the third Monday in November (19th), of the same year, he presided, holding court during that and the two days succeeding, according to the limit prescribed by the law. His associates, during those two terms, were Hiram Todd and John Smitlı.


At this late day but little is known, personally, of the character and judicial ability of Judge Morris, further than is disclosed in his record. From this it may be readily inferred that he was methodical in the disposition of business, ready in the examination and settlement of issues, clear and unequivocal in the enunciation of his decisions, and withal gentlemanly and courteous to the mem- bers of the bar especially, and to all others with whom he came in contact generally. Before the commencement of the third term of the Cass Circuit Court, a redivision of the State into judicial circuits took place, and this county became a part of the first circuit, embracing the counties of Vermillion, Parke, Montgomery, Foun- tain, Warren, Tippecanoe, Carroll and Cass, to which Clinton and St. Joseph were subsequently attached.


Hon. John R. Porter, president judge of this circuit, came to the bench in Cass. County at the commencement of the third term of our court, on the fourth Monday, being the 26th of April, 1830, having for his associates Hiram Todd and John Smith. His term, as were the first and second, was held in the old Seminary building,


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situated near the northeast corner of Market and Fourth streets, in Logansport. Like his predecessor, but little is known of Judge Porter, except what may be gleaned from the record of his proceed- ings. This source of information is to an extent circumscribed and not altogether satisfactory. Enough is apparent, however, to deter- mine that while he was a good lawyer and in a measure successful, there was a show of immethodical arrangement in the details of his judgments-an apparent non-observance of the strict rules of plead- ing and practice. Whatever may have been defective or informal in the disposition of questions of law was generally compensated for in his accurate discrimination as to the facts involved-basing his judgments sometimes upon the facts developed by the evidence rather than on the technical application of the law. He occupied the bench in Cass County until the close of the October term, 1832.


Hon. Gustavus A. Everts, president judge of the Eighth Judi- cial Circuit, commenced his judicial labors in Cass County with the April term, 1833, with Hiram Todd and John Smith his associates. At the February term, 1834, Robert Edwards became one of the associate judges, and at the August term of the same year, Hyacinth Lasselle, Jr., took his seat as the second associate. At the same term a survey of the " jail bounds" was ordered, and the boundary defined by A. Wilson, surveyor. Judge Everts occupied the bench until the close of the February term, 1836. The Eighth Judicial Circuit, at the commencement of Judge Everts' term, was com- posed of the counties of Carroll, Cass, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Allen, Lagrange, Elkhart, St. Joseph and Laporte. As a lawyer and a man Judge Biddle thus speaks of him: "He was a lawyer of great tact and fine address; extremely astute in the management of witnesses and facts; not remarkably studious nor deeply learned in the law. In cases that moved emotion, or touched passion, or ap- pealed to the feelings which stir our common nature, he was very powerful-far more successful than when he attempted to convince the understanding. His peculiar talent made him personally very popular. He was indeed a very prince of good fellows.


" As a teller of amusing stories he was inimitable; always had a fund of ready anecdote; and he could travesty character most amusingly." In illustration of his readiness in repartee, Judge Biddle gives a few characteristic anecdotes, one of which is as fol- lows: "Some members of the bar at that time were convivial, and


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did ' sleep o'nights.' Everts was occasionally one of them. On one occasion, after he had been broken of his rest, upon the next day he was sitting, leaning his face in his hands, over the counsel table, and fell asleep, while John H. Bradley, a high-toned, fastidious gentleman of much ability and of great worth, by the way, was ad- dressing the jury. Everts soon began to snore. Bradley touched him and woke him up. Everts begged pardon, but soon slept and snored again. This scene was repeated several times. Finally, Everts fetched a most outrageous snore, which startled the whole court-room. Bradley felt insulted, and appealed to the court. The court reprimanded Everts, who, on being privately told what he had done, rose to apologize, and said: 'May it please the court, it was simply an involuntary burst of applause at the gentleman's elo- quence.' "


Samuel C. Sample was the immediate successor of Mr. Everts, as president judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, then composed of the counties of Cass, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Allen, Lagrange, Elkhart, St. Joseph and Laporte. By the act of February 4, 1836, the following other counties were attached to and made a part of that circuit: Porter, Marshall, Fulton, Kosciusko, Noble and Adams. The first and only term of court held by Judge Sample, in Cass County, commenced on the second Monday, being the 8th of August, 1836-in the old seminary building-continuing six days, and adjourning August 13. His associates were George T. Bostwick and Robert Edwards; J. L. Jernagan was prosecuting attorney, and Job B. Eldridge sheriff.


Judge Sample, at that date and until his death, was a citizen of St. Joseph County, having previously lived many years, indeed the most of his early life, in Connersville, Fayette Co., Ind., which was also the home of his father, John Sample, Sr., and several brothers, all of whom occupied high positions in society and were severally possessed of a superior order of talent. The late Hon. Oliver H. Smith, ex-United States Senator, thus speaks of him: "My acquaintance with Samuel C. Sample, the subject of this sketch, commenced in the year 1820, at Connersville, when he be- came a student at law in my office. I knew him intimately while he lived. Mr. Sample was no ordinary man; plain, practical in all his acts. He represented his district in Congress with decided ability, and was always at his post among the working men of the


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body. At the bar, and as presiding judge of the circuit courts, he stood high, among the most efficient and able practitioners, and one of the purest judges that has graced the bench. His person was fine, his head and forehead large, and hair dark. He was taken from us in the middle of life, while discharging the duties of the State Bank at South Bend, and 'reposes in the cemetery there. Peace to his remains."


Charles W. Ewing came upon the bench as president judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, as the immediate successor of Judge Sample, and held his first term of the Cass Circuit Court, commenc- ing on the third Monday, February 20, 1837, like his predecessors, in the old seminary. His associates were the same as those who sat with Judge Sample. with Thomas Johnson, prosecuting attorney, and Job B. Eldridge, sheriff. Judge Ewing was a lawyer of supe- rior ability, and stood high in the profession, locally and generally. As a judge, he was ready in grasping facts pertinent to the issues involved, and seldom committed an error in disposing of questions submitted to him for consideration. He was deservedly popular, both as lawyer and judge, and his untimely taking off was a source of regret to all with whom he was acquainted. His term of service as judge of the Cass Circuit Court closed with the February term, 1839. He died by his own hand on the 9th of January, 1843, in the meridian of his life and usefulness.


Henry Chase was the sixth judge, in line of succession, of the Cass Circuit Court. He was appointed August 20, 1839, by David Wallace, governor of Indiana, during the interim preceding the session of the Legislature of 1839-40, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. Charles W. Ewing. He was duly sworn by the clerk of this court on the 26th, but his term of service did not commence until the 1st of September, five days later. At the time of his appointment, the Eighth Judicial Circuit was composed of the counties of Cass, Miami, Wabash, Huntington, Whitley, Noble, DeKalb, Steuben, Lagrange and Allen. While the term of service of Judge Chase did not commence until the close of the fall session in Cass County, he presided in the circuit courts of Miami, Wabash and the other counties of the circuit, during the half-yearly session of 1839. At the session of the Legislature of 1839-40, the term of Judge Chase's appointment having expired, a successor was chosen. Judge Chase was among the early lawyers who practiced in this.


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court. In 1825, while teaching in the academy at St. Clairsville, Ohio, he commenced the study of law: was licensed to practice in Adams County, Miss., February 9, 1828, and in 1830 located in Delphi, Carroll Co., Ind., where he remained until 1834, when he settled in Logansport. He was a close and ready pleader, seldom or never asking for time to prepare his papers; had a clear, logical mind, with great force of character. As judge he was dignified, self- reliant and unequivocal, making no mistakes in the enunciation of his decisions ; his style brief yet exhaustive.


He left Logansport in 1845 and went to New York City, and re- mained there until 1852, when he left for the great West, settling in Sheboygan, Wis. He died there in July, 1854, aged fifty-four years.


John W. Wright was elected president judge of the Eighth Judi- cial Circuit by the Legislature of 1839-40, the circuit being com- posed of the same counties as when Judge Chase was appointed, ex- cepting that Carroll County was added. He held his first term of court in Cass County on the second Monday in May (14th), 1840, with Bostwick and Edwards as associates, continuing upon the bench during the successive terms of the Cass Circuit Court until the close of the August term, 1846, a little more than six years. He was a man of peculiar make-up; not a profound lawyer, but ready in arriv- ing at conclusions and prompt in announcing them. During his term of service the amount of business that came up for his consid- eration was unsually large, and yet few appeals were taken from his decisions, which, though not always satisfactory, were generally concurred in by the parties litigant. Subsequently, in 1851 or 1852, he was mayor of the city of Logansport, serving one full term. La- ter, he became interested in the construction of railroads, especially those which he conceived to be of importance to the people of Cass County. In this field he probably did more than any other indi- vidual toward providing the county with the means of ready trans- portation for its surplus products. These ventures were not always financially successful, and yet, while unsuccessful, his energy and tact seldom waned. He left Logansport many years ago, and at this date, if alive, he resides in the vicinity of Washington City, D. C.


Horace P. Biddle was the successor of Judge Wright, and pre- sided in the courts of the Eighth Judicial Circuit for a


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period, first, five and a half years, commencing January 9, 1847. He came upon the bench in Cass County on Wednesday, February 24, 1847, with Hewit L. Thomas as his only associate, Jesse Julian, his other associate, having died during the session. In 1852, he was elected senatorial delegate to attend the conven- tion which met at the capital that year for the purpose of forming a new Constitution for the State Government. As a member of that convention he distinguished himself in the advocacy of provisions which experience has shown were wholesome and judicious, impart- ing additional dignity to the political and judicial economy of the State. Resuming the practice of law during the interval after the conclusion of his convention service, he continued his professional labors until the fall of 1860, when he was re-elected president judge of this circuit, designated at that time as the Eleventh. His commis- sion was dated October 26, 1860, and extended over a period of six years from the day preceding. The circuit was then composed of the counties of Carroll, Cass, Miami, Wabash, Huntington and Grant. Judge Biddle was re-elected in 1866, for another term of six years, as judge of the Eleventh Circuit, composed of the same counties, and left the circuit bench at the close of the spring ses- sion in 1872. Two years later, however, he was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State, and served a full term of six years as such, leaving that high position full of judicial honors. Aside from his experience in the field of law as practitioner and judge, he has not been unknown to fame in the field of literature, having produced many valuable works in the departments of science and general knowledge.


Robert H. Milroy was appointed the successor of Judge Biddle at the time of his resignation in 1852, and remained on the bench as judge of the Cass Circuit Court one term, commencing Novem- ber S of that year, and in the other counties of the circuit, then composed of the counties of Lake, Laporte, Porter, St. Joseph, Marshall, Starke, Fulton, White, Cass, Pulaski, Howard, Carroll and Miami, constituting the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Judge Milroy, prior to his accession to the bench, was a lawyer of considerable ability, of wide experience and high integrity, and carried these qualities with him in the discharge of the duties pertaining to his more responsible position, leaving no stain upon the judicial ermine. His early life was spent chiefly in Carroll County, Ind., but hav-


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ing an inherent desire for distinction in the science of arms, he entered the military school at Norwich, Vt., where he became proficient in the theoretical details of military life. Upon the an- nouncement of a declaration of war against Mexico, and a call for volunteers by Gov. Whitcomb, without delay he enlisted a company for that service, of which he was made captain, and tendered his and their services for the strife already inaugurated. Again, at the outbreak of the Rebellion, he enlisted one or more companies for the three months' service, and was commissioned Colonel of the regiment known as the "Bloody Ninth." He was subsequently promoted to a major-generalship, and served with distinction during the war. He now resides in one of the territories of the great West.


John Upfold Pettit was the tenth judge of the Cass Circuit Court, president judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, and as such came upon the bench in this county on the second Monday, being the eleventh day, of April, 1853. He also served as judge during the two succeeding terms, closing with April term, 1854, when, resigning his judgeship, he was elected a member of the Thir- ty-fourth Congress to represent his district in the lower house of the National Legislature. He was again elected to the same posi- tion in 1865, and became speaker of that body during the session, and served with great credit, sustaining the high reputation already accorded to him as one of the most polished presiding officers of the West.




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