History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 32

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123

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"Under this call, within the space of forty-eight hours, sixty-five thou- sand men had tendered their services. Of this force, thirteen regiments and one battalion were organized specially for this emergency, and the regiments designated numerically, from the One Hundred and Second to One Hundred and Fourteen, inclusive, the battalion being assigned to the One Hundred and Seventh Regiment."

WAR WITH SPAIN.

When the war with Spain came on, in 1898, Indiana was not lacking in its patriotism. Her quota was so small and her patriotism so abundant, that it was feared by many who were anxious to bear a part that no opportunity would be given for service. Dearborn county lacked none of its former read- iness to respond to the call, but at first the opportunity seemed lacking. The first call was filled by the militia organizations of the state volunteering to enlist and maintain their status, as in the militia. But a second call gave the counties that were alert the chance to be recognized and Dearborn county, as usual, secured recognition by the acceptance of one company. This company had been recruited by George A. West, who was made its captain ; George W. Fitch, who was appointed its first lieutenant, and Hanson G. Freeman. who was appointed its second lieutenant.

Governor Mount assigned the company to the One Hundred and Sixty- first Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, as Company M. The non-com- missioned officers and the enlisted men were as follow : First sergeant, Jacob J. Rief; quartermaster sergeant, Henry A. Spencer; sergeants. George W. Laird, John Seekatz, Charles D. Sparks and Cyrus M. Spencer : corporals, Henry C. Flush. John Siemental, Jesse L. Laswell, Edward Marshall. Paul

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Givan, Edwin J. Evans, John J. Schofield, Charles H. Hayes, William C. Wilson, Andrew Dailey, Adrian H. Cissna and George J. Fleck; musicians, John M. Strauss and George R. McElfresh; artificer, John J. Fleck; wagoner, William McAdams; privates, Wesley W. Abdon, Henry Andrews, Frank April, George J. Aylor, Charles B. Barrow, Charles H. Bell, Clyde C. Berry, Nicholas Billingsley, Thomas C. Brumblay, Henry Christian, Ira W. Clark, James Clark, John E. Clark, Bertram W. Connelly, William W. Cooper, Ed- ward S. Cox, John Cox, Joseph Cross, Milton E. Davis, George Donner. Samuel Downs, Leroy Emehiser, Charles F. Enke, Luke Fahy, James M. Frazier, John Frost, Albert E. Gerkin, Andrew Gould, George K. Gould. Harley Gray, Peter Hauser, George M. Hayes, Edward M. Hitchcock, Homer Huntingdon, Thomas B. Jeffries, Albert L. Johnson, Clifford Johnson, Hal Johnson, Walter D. Jones, Charles L. Kelsey, George C. Kepper, George P. Ketcham, John W. Knagge, August M. Knippenberg, John M. Kunkel, Ed- ward Landers. William R. Lawrence, John F. Losey, Benjamin Marshall, Henry Mason, Charles W. McCartney, Ralph A. Meyer, Charles E. Mon- tooth, Henry C. Pate, Minter Purnell, Emery J. Ratekin, Amos B. Reed, Fred C. Roemer, George Schnetzer, Edward Schwab, Frank E. Speckman, Walter S. Stewart, Henry H. Stille, Calvin Suit, Charles J. Taylor, William A. Taylor, William Taylor, Edward E. Thompson, William H. Temke, Ed- ward A. Truitt, Gideon H. Tudor, Marcus Ward, William S. Webster, Will- iam J. Wesler, Henry J. Wingerberg, Martin Winkley, Clarence Young and John G. Zimmerman; recruits, Ernest M. Bales, Curtis A. Moody, Frank C. McCartney, Charles H. Rief, Karl Slageter and George W. Stricker.

The regiment, after a short time in camp at Indianapolis, was sent to Jacksonville, Florida, where it remained for several months, after which it was ordered to Savannah, where it stayed until about January 1, 1899, when it was ordered to Havana, Cuba, where it remained until ordered home for muster out. It was mustered out at Savannah on April 30, 1899, and returned home at once. While the men never were ordered to take part in any en- gagements with the enemy, yet they were as ready and willing, if it had been their lot, as any of the men who had, in the years gone by, stood in front of an enemy.

During their term of service they lost two men by sickness, but none was discharged on account of disability. The scenes on the streets of Law- renceburg when the men were leaving for the rendezvous at Indianapolis were a reminder of the stirring days of the Civil War. Grave news had been re- ceived from Santiago, Cuba, that the army then there was having severe en- (22).

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gagements and the future seemed to promise that the Dearborn county com- pany would soon be called on to meet the enemy. The problem of sanitation in a tropical climate had not then been worked out and relatives and friends of these who had enlisted realized the seriousness of a campaign in Cuba. The streets were full of people, met to give the soldiers a cheery good-bye, and the old veterans of the Civil War led the procession escorting them to their train.

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CHAPTER XXVII.

BENCH AND BAR.

Before Indiana became a territory, and while Dearborn county was at- tached to Hamilton county, it is probable that what, if any, legal business the pioneers had, was transacted in Cincinnati. At that time those who lived in the county were only squatters, having no legal possession of any of the land, neither could they obtain such possession. While the county was part of Bote- tourt county, Virginia, if there were any white people residing here they were not of the kind who referred any of their transactions to a court. While it was a part of Illinois county, or Knox county, the seat of justice was too far away to be considered in legal matters. In 1796, when the first permanent set- tlers located in Dearborn county, there were nine attorneys in Cincinnati. according to Judge Burnet's notes, "all of whom, with the exception of two, became confirmed drunkards and descended to premature graves."

Burnet also says what seems to have been true of Dearborn county later on, as well as of Cincinnati, that "It is always my opinion that there was a fair proportion of genius and talent among the early members of the bar. Some of them, it is true,'were uneducated, and had to acquire their legal knowledge after they assumed the profession. These were not numerous, but were noisy and officious, and, for some time, were able to secure a considerable amount of practice. This may be accounted for, in part, by the fact that the docket contained a large number of actions for slander and assault and battery, and indictments for larceny, libels and the like, which generally originated among the followers of the. army, who were numerous, consisting of pack-horsemen, bullock drivers, boatmen and artificers, who were not always discriminating in the selection of counsel.

"In 1796 the circuit comprised the counties of Washington, Hamilton and Wayne. Nevertheless in December, 1799, Mr. St. Clair and myself attended the court at Vincennes, in the county of Knox, with a view of engaging in the practice. But the distance, connected with the fact that the docket did not present a prospect of much lucrative business, induced us to abandon the project.

"When it is recalled that the country at that time, and for some years after, was destitute of roads, bridges and ferries and even of white inhabitants, after

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traveling thirty or forty miles from the county towns, it might naturally be concluded that our journeys through the wilderness from court to court were irksome and unpleasant. Such, however, was not the fact. We took care to provide comfortable stores, which we were enabled to transport on our horses, with the aid a of pack horse, and our minds were made up to endure anything that might occur. The want of bridges and ferries rendered the art of swim- ming an indispensable qualification of a good hackney. No man purchased a good horse for saddle, without being first assured that he was a safe swimmer, and when mounted on such a steed he felt himself secure. Generally our parties consisted of four or five, and were in reality more like excursions for amusement, than journeys of fatigue and distress."

A MATTER OF SELECTION.

Oliver H. Smith, in speaking of the early Indiana lawyers, says: "Our lawyers were what the world calls self-made men, meaning men who have not had the advantage of rich fathers and early education; to whom the higher seminaries and colleges were sealed books; men gifted by nature with strong, vigorous, clear intellects, fine health and sound constitutions; men who, like a newly-hatched swan, were directed by nature to their proper elements, their profession. Few of them failed of success. Necessity urged them 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 by the world to 'bad luck,' it is nothing more or less than the selection of a profession, avocation or business that nature never intended you for. The smallest teal or duck that swims on the bosom of Chesapeake Bay, would sink and drown, in that element, the best-blooded and finest game-cock that ever old Virginia produced in her most chivalric 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 for 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 Circuit Court my friend, Judge Perry, bargained for a pony for $25 to be delivered next day, on a credit of six months. The man came with the pony, but required security of the Judge for the $25. The Judge drew the note at the top of a sheet of foolscap and signed it. I signed it; James Rari- den signed it and passed it on, and on it went, from lawyer to lawyer around

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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 presented it to the man he had bought the pony from, but he promptly refused to receive it. 'Do you think I am a fool, to let you get the horse and all the lawyers on your side? I see you intend to cheat me out of the pony.' . Up he jumped and ran out of the court house at full gallop.

"Our attorneys were ready off-hand practitioners, seldom at fault for the occasion. Sometimes we had to meet attorneys from other states who would fire the Latin and technical terms with a triumphal air, but in most cases they were foiled by the quick retorts of our bar."

ROSTER OF THE PIONEER BAR.

Prior to 1820 the following persons seemed to be the members of the bar of Dearborn county : James Dill, Jesse B. Thomas, Thomas Wardell, John Lawrence, Elijah Sparks, Amos Lane, Jesse L. Holman, James Noble, Stephens C. Stephens, William Hendricks, Daniel J. Caswell and Moses Hitch- cock. From 1820 to 1840 and up to 1850, were John Test, Sr., George H. Dunn, Edwin Pratt, Ezekiel Walker, Arthur St. Clair Vance, Philip L. Spooner, Horace Bassett, Henry Cunliffe, Daniel S. Major, James T. Brown, Theodore Gazlay and Carter Gazlay. The attorneys in 1860 were James T. Brown, Abram Brower, William E. Craft, Theodore Gazlay, Carter Gazlay, Daniel S. Major, Benjamin M. Piatt, Aguila Reid, Benjamin Spooner, John Schwartz and Philip L. Spooner. Aurora-Edward H. Green, William S. Holman, John D. Haines, Isaac Miles, Omer F. Roberts and R. Q. Terrill.

The list of members of the bar placed in the corner stone of the court house at its laying in 1871, contained the following names : Daniel S. Major, William S. Holman, John D. Haynes, John Schwartz, John K. Thompson, William Wirt Tilley, George B. Fitch, Noah S. Givan, Francis Adkinson, Will- iam H. Bainbridge, Omar F. Roberts, George M. Roberts, Elmer W. Adkin- son, Hamilton Conaway, William H. Mathews, Isaac M. Dunn, Charles S. Dunn, Hugh D. McMullen, Oliver B. Liddell, Richard Gregg and George R. Brumblay.

GEN. JAMES DILL.

It is said of James Dill, one of the most prominent early pioneer members of the Dearborn county bar, and perhaps its earliest, according to dates fur- nished by Samuel Morrison for the "Dearborn County History," that he was an

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Irish barrister who emigrated to America shortly after the Revolutionary War. He came to the Northwest Territory and soon became the friend and associate of Gen. William H. Harrison and Gen. Arthur St. Clair, marrying the daugh- ter of the latter. He was appointed by General Harrison the first recorder of Dearborn county, March 7, 1803, but resigned in August of the same year. He was afterwards, September 6, 1813, appointed clerk, which place he re- tained until his death in 1838. Sen. Oliver H. Smith, who studied law under him, describes his preceptor thus: "He was frank and open in his intercourse with others; about the common height, wore a long cue, dressed with taste, fea- tures good, eyelids heavy, hair thrown back in front." Congressman William S. Holman, the "great objector," said this of General Dill : "Gen. James Dill is a grand character in the history of Dearborn county. He was the last of our gentlemen of the old school. Forty years ago the spirit of Westminster per- vaded our jurisprudence. There was infinitely more of the pomp and show of judicial authority then than now. When General Dill appeared in court, it was in the full costume of the gentlemen of the last century-his knee breeches and silver buckles and venerable cue, neatly plaited and flowing over his shoulders, seemed a mild protest against the leveling tendencies of the age; but nothing could impair the hold which the gallant soldier and courtly and witty Irishman had on the friendship of the people of this county. He re- mained clerk for many years, and until his death." General Dill was a soldier during the War of 1812, a member of the territorial Legislature serving as speaker of the House in that body. He was a member of the convention that formed the first Constitution of the state of Indiana and was chairman of the committee on impeachments and militia. He was also a general in the state militia, from which he derived his title.

AN ANTI-SLAVERY VICTORY.

It is not generally known, but it is true, that to General Dill may be given much of the credit of securing the victory over the slavery advocates during territorial days. When the issue came that a pro-slavery delegate, or an anti-slavery delegate should be elected to represent the territory in Congress, Jonathan Jennings was counted the leader of the victorious anti-slavery party ; but history says very little concerning General Dill. It was the vote of Dear- born county at that election that gave the anti-slavery advocates the victory and at that time General Dill was a warm advocate of the anti-slavery party. His popularity in his own county was greater than that of any other member of

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his party. The settlers of Dearborn county, as it was bounded at that time, were bitterly against slavery and General Dill was their leader. The result was that while Knox county was carried for Randolph, the candidate on the pro-slavery ticket, Dearborn county was carried by the anti-slavery party by sufficient margin to overcome the Knox county vote.

W. H. Smith, in his "History of Indiana," says of this slavery issue during territorial days and of the campaign of 1809: "The campaign was of the red- hot order and charges and counter charges were freely made and denied. Jen- nings proved a thorough campaigner. He made speeches, attended log-roll- ings, assisted at house raisings, and made himself generally popular. Governor Harrison had been one of the staunchest friends of slavery, and had used all his influence against Jennings (and in favor of Thomas Randolph, the pro- slavery candidate), but when the votes were counted out the result was that Jennings had triumphed. This was a terrible disappointment to Governor Harrison and the advocates of slavery, they having failed to recognize the trend of public sentiment. The people of Knox county remained steadfast to their traditions and favored slavery, but the southern and eastern parts of the territory had grown more rapidly than Knox county. The eastern part, especially, was settled up by Quakers from North Carolina, who had left that state because of their dislike to human bondage, and they brought with them into the new territory the feelings which ripened afterwards into active aboli- tion."

The fight over the slavery question did not end with the campaign of 1809. Although the advocates of a free territory were victorious, yet the pro- slavery party kept up the fight until the Constitution was adopted and Indiana became a state. In this fight General Dill was found leading the anti-slavery party in this county, shoulder to shoulder with Governor Jennings, and to this witty, genial and courtly Irish barrister may be ascribed much of the credit of routing the pro-slavery party and giving the state a free government.

CONSTITUTION CREATES CONFUSION.

Quoting from "Butler's History" on this question, the importance of which has been overlooked by most writers of early history: "At the election for delegates to the convention to frame a Constitution the opponents of slavery succeeded in electing a majority of them. The friends of slavery early saw their defeat, and they began to agitate to abandon the project of forming a state government, on the ground of the increased expense it would entail upon

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the people. But it was too late for such a proposition to be entertained. Soon after the convention organized it came to a vote on the slavery question. It was while considering the article providing for amendments to the Constitu- tion then about to be made. The question came up again in a more decided and emphatic form on the report of the committee on general provisions. This committee reported a very long section, with a great many provisos in it, but after due consideration, and considerable discussion, the report was amended into the form in which it was finally adopted.

"In the eastern counties it was generally considered that the adoption of the Constitution was operative at once, and that all slaves were unconditionally emancipated by it, and those who owned slaves at once gave them their free- dom. In the western counties, however, a different opinion prevailed. It was there held that the property in slaves was a vested right, secured by the ordinance, and could not be impaired.

"Some of the slave-holders in those counties removed their slaves from Indiana into Southern states, but in most cases such slaves were afterwards released by the courts. In 1817 two slaves, held in Orange county, brought suit for their freedom, but did not succeed until after a contest before the courts lasting for five years. In the western counties slaves were openly held, and as late as 1820 there still remained in Indiana one hundred and ninety slaves. It was not until 1830 that the slavery question was brought to an end, so far as the legal right to hold a slave was concerned,.but the national census of 1840 disclosed the fact that there were still three slaves in Indiana."

Just how much General Dill, as leader of the anti-slavery forces of Dear- born county, contributed to all this has never been shown, but it is probable, from the fact that he was elected a member of the constitutional convention from Dearborn county, after having made the fight against slavery previously for some years, that he was considered the leader of the anti-slavery party in the county.

JESSE B. THOMAS.

Little has been written in local history of Jesse B. Thomas, one of the first members of the bar of the county. He seems to have been a man of fine ability and of strong character. He located in Dearborn county and was a practicing attorney, when the county was organized on March 7. 1803. He was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1777 and in 1799 came west to Bracken county, Kentucky, where he studied law with his brother. Richard Symees

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Thomas. At the first election of the territorial Legislature in 1805, he was elected a member and served as speaker of the House. He was a member of the second territorial Legislature, which was convened on September 26, 1808, and was again elected speaker. Later on, when Illinois Territory was organized, he was appointed, by President Jefferson, one of the judges of that territory, and removed to Kaskashia, thence to Cahokia and afterwards to Edwards- ville. On the formation of a Constitution and a state government in Illinois, in 1818, he was a delegate to and president of the convention that formed the Constitution of that state. He was elected one of the first two United States senators by the state Legislature, and served in that capacity for ten years. He was either the author of the celebrated historical "Missouri Compromise," or had the honor of having his name attached to it, as the "Thomas Bill." After retiring from public life he removed to Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where he died in 1853, at the ripe age of seventy-six.

JUDGE ELIJAH SPARKS.

Judge Elijah Sparks was a native of Queen Anne county, Virginia, and emigrated to Kentucky about 1800, where he studied law and practiced at Bank Lick (now Covington). In the spring of 1806 he removed to Law- renceburg, at which time John Weaver, a brother-in-law, was a United States officer and, with a small command, had charge of a block-house in what was then Dearborn county. On January 16, 1814, he was elected one of the territorial judges of Dearborn county, which office he filled until his death, in May, 1815. He was, in his earlier years, a traveling preacher of the Methodist church, and Rev. Allen Wiley alludes to him, with a contribu- tion to his character as a Christian, as "one of the prominent instruments of the planting, spread, and symmetry of Methodism in this part of Indiana." His daughter married William S. Durbin, and was the mother of Winfield Taylor Durbin, governor of Indiana from January, 1901, to January, 1905.

ANOTHER STRONG MEMBER OF EARLY BAR.

Horace Bassett was another of the strong members of the legal fraternity with which Dearborn county was blessed in its early history. He was born in Mansfield, Connecticut, on January 18, 1782. In early life he emigrated to Vermont, where he studied law with a Colonel Mattox. He followed his profession successfully in that state for several years, filling the office of

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state's attorney for some time. He removed to Indiana in 1820 and located at Aurora. Two years later he was elected a member of the state Legislature, which was yet meeting at Corydon. He was re-elected, serving continuously for a period of six years. He was one of the members of the first Legislature that assembled at Indianapolis. It is said that he was instrumental. during his service as a legislator, in securing to Dearborn county, the adoption of the township system, and that when the second constitutional convention was in session, William S. Holman, one of the members from Dearborn county, suc- ceeded in having the Dearborn county system extended to the whole state, under the clause that all laws were required to be uniform.

In 1832 Mr. Bassett was appointed by President Jackson one of the com- missioners to remove the Indians from the state of Indiana to Indian Terri- tory. In 1834 he was appointed by Judge Jesse L. Holman, clerk of the United States circuit and district court and removed to Indianapolis, which position he continued to hold until his death in that city on December 18. 1860. At his death the committee appointed to draft resolutions expressive of the feelings of the members of the bar in that city said of him: "It is not so much his long and useful life as a lawyer, a legislator and an officer of the court; as his high merits as a man and Christian, which we desire to commemorate."

A HISTORY-MAKING FAMILY.

It is given to some men to live when history is made, and it is the for- tunate province of others, by the exercise of their gifts and ability and native force of character, to assist in making history. Amos Lane and his son, James H. Lane, were of the latter kind. The former was born on March 1, 1778, in the state of New York. He settled in Lawrenceburg in 1808 and sought to be admitted to the bar, but was refused license, for the sole reason, as he frequently declared, that he was an ardent friend of Thomas Jefferson. In the same fall, 1808, he removed to the Kentucky side of the river, and located on the Judge Piatt farm. In 1811 he removed to the county seat at Burlington, and was admitted to the bar of Kentucky, where he practiced until 1814, when he once more moved to Lawrenceburg and was admitted to the bar without further trouble, soon gaining a high standing in his profes- sion, especially as a criminal lawyer. He was employed to prosecute in the celebrated case of the State vs. Amasa Fuller, indicted for murder. In 1816 he was a member of the first Legislature of the state and was chosen speaker of the House. He was re-elected in 1817 and served once more in 1839. He

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History of Dearborn County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions, Part 32

Author: Archibald Shaw Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1123

Author: Archibald Shaw
Publication date: 1915
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1123