USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 26
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 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119
ST. JOHN'S AT ENOCHSBURG.
The early history of the Catholic church at Enochsburg, a pleasant village on the Decatur-Franklin county line, is rather obscure, although it is known that Father Rudolph was serving a small congregation of Catholics in that neighborhood at as early a date as October, 1844. From accounts handed down, it is known that a log chapel in the woods surrounding Enochs- burg was dedicated by Father Rudolph on December 22, 1844. This mission
276
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
was attached to the Oldenburg parish and continued to be served from the Oldenburg church until 1862, in which year Rev. Lawrence Oesterling, a Franciscan priest, became the first resident pastor. In 1853 the parish erected a small stone school building, thirty by thirty-five feet in size; shortly there- after beginning the erection of a stone church, which was dedicated in 1856. This church, which is still serving the needs of the parish, was built of dressed gray limestone and is fifty by one hundred and five feet in di- mension, the height of the spire being one hundred and thirty-five feet; three bells being hung in the tower. Since the church was erected numer- ous improvements have been added thereto: notably during the pastorate of Father Pfeifer (1882-99). who frescoed the church, installed new altars, pur- chased new statues, put a slate roof on the church, installed an organ and made extensive improvements in the grounds surrounding the church prop- erty.
In 1868 Rev. Michael Heck succeeded Father Ocsterling as pastor, remaining until 1879. During his pastorate a brick residence of eight rooms was erected, and in 1872 he had the satisfaction of dedicating a sub- stantial school building for the children of the parish. He secured the servi- ces of the Venerable Sisters of Oldenburg as teachers and from that time down to the present a flourishing school has been maintained, more than seventy-five children being enrolled during the current term. In 1879 Father Heck was transferred to St. Wendel's parish, in Posey county, this state, where he spent the rest of his life in faithful ministration, his death occurring in 1899.
Following Father Heck, Rev. John Stolz was placed in charge at St. John's, but he remained only a few months. In 1879 Rev. J. W. Kemper was installed as pastor, his service continuing until 1882, in which year Rev. James Pfeiffer entered upon his notably successful pastorate, con- tinuing in charge until 1899, when he was transferred to St. Wendel's to fill the vacancy created by the death of Father Heck. Rev. Joseph Haas then was sent to St. John's and for ten years faithfully served that parish ; he being succeeded in 1909 by Rev. Henry Verst, who continued in charge until July, 1914, when the present pastor, Rev. Mathias Schmitz, was in- stalled. St. John's parish has a membership of more than three hundred and seventy souls. While the church usually is associated with Franklin county, it really stands in this county, being on this side of the county line. ยท The parochial residence stands on the Franklin-Decatur line, while the school house stands in Franklin county.
277
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
CATHOLIC CHAPEL OF WESTPORT.
Several years ago the Catholics in Westport held services in the build- ing now occupied by Harry Reidenbach as a jewelry store. There were not a sufficient number of Catholics to establish a church, and the bishop granted them permission to establish a chapel where they might worship under the protection of St. Denis, the nearest Catholic church in Jennings county. The chapel has now been discontinued many years and the few Catholics in Westport and immediate vicinity are attached to the St. Denis parish.
CHAPTER IN.
BENCH AND BAR.
The judicial history of Decatur county falls into two periods, namely, the period of the old constitution, 1822-1853, and the period following. The constitution of 1852 made a marked change in the judiciary of the state and subsequent amendments to the constitution ( 1881) and statutory legislation have made still further changes. Under the Constitution of 1816 the supreme court of Indiana and the president judges were elected by the state Legisla- ture : where as the present Constitution provides for the election of all judges by the people. The old Constitution divided the state into judicial circuits and placed over each circuit what was known as the president judge. At first there were only three circuits for the fifteen counties of the state then in existence. Each county elected two judges, known as associate judges, and these. with the president judge, had jurisdiction over all the civil and criminal business of the respective counties.
The president judges, as well as the associate judges, were elected for a term of seven years. The clerk of the common-pleas court was elected for a like term. These judges served both as common-pleas and circuit judges. and, in the case of Decatur county, had charge of most of the probate work. as well. The records disclose only two probate judges, these serving during the decade following 1839. These two probate judges were Angus C. McCoy, 1839-43, and John Thomson, 1843-49.
The president judges who held court in Decatur county from 1822 to 1853 were as follow: W. W. Wick, B. F. Morris, Miles C. Eggleston, Samuel Bigger, James Perry, Jehn P. Elliott, George A. Dunn, William MI. McCarty, Reuben D. Logan, Jeremiah M. Wilson, William A. Cullen and Samuel A. Bonner. Associate judges during this period were: Martin Adkins, John Fugit, John Bryson, Zachariah Garton, John Thomson, John Hopkins. Samuel Ellis, Richard C. Talbott and George Cable.
Beginning in 1853. there were separate common-pleas and circuit judges until 1873, in which year the common-pleas court was abolished by the Leg- islature. As near as can be ascertained from the record, the following judges served on the common-pleas bench during these twenty years: Royal P.
279
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Cobb, Samuel A. Bonner, John Davis, David S. Gooding and William A. Moore, the latter of whom was serving when the office was abolished.
The jurisdiction of the circuit judges of the district including Decatur county has been changed a number of times by the Legislature and has at various times covered Franklin, Henry, Rush, Shelby and Bartholomew counties in the ninth judicial circuit. Since 1899 Decatur has been united with Bartholomew county for judicial purposes. The following circuit judges have presided over the district, including Decatur county: William M. Mc- Carty, 1853; R. D. Logan, 1860-65 ; Jeremiah Wilson, 1865-71 ; William A. Cullen, 1871-77: Samuel A. Bonner, 1877-89: John W. Study, 1889-93 (Study died in office and his unexpired term was filled by James K. Ewing) : James K. Ewing, 1893-95: John D. Miller, 1895-98 (died in office ) : David A. Myers, 1898: Douglas Morris, 1898-1901; Francis T. Hord, 1901-04: Marshal Hacker, 1904-10: Hugh D. Wickens, 1910-1916.
Of the above. Bonner. Study, Ewing. Miller, Myers and Wickens were residents of Decatur county.
A MYSTERY OF THE OLDEN DAYS.
Considerable mystery lurks about the cause of the death of Judge Martin Adkins, one of the first two associate judges of the county. Adkins died in 1841, at Cincinnati, where he had gone with a drove of hogs. At the time he was under indictment for shooting "Dick" Stewart, his son-in-law, with intent to kill. He had been tried once and the jury disagreed, one juror, it is said, holding out for his acquittal.
His employees brought home a coffin, which was interred, without being opened, in the old Mt. Moriah cemetery. This rather peculiar circumstance gave rise to two rumors, one that he had committed suicide in order to evade the ends of justice and the other that his reported death was untrue and that he had left for parts unknown. The exact truth, which might have been in a measure ascertained, by exhuming the coffin, was never known.
Enemies of Free Masonry charged at the time the jury disagreed that Adkins, being a Mason, had been saved from the penitentiary by a member of the organization, who was on the jury. There was at that time 110 Masonic lodge in Greensburg, but Levi A. McQuithy, who was a juror, was a Mason.
John Fugit, the other member of the original court of associate judges, was a native of Virginia. He was tall and thin, with broad shoulders and an eye as bright as an eagle's. When his six years on the bench were over he
280
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
served one or two terms as a justice of the peace in Clay township. He had three sons who attained local eminence. Hugh was an attorney at Milford; James L. was a justice of the peace and later deputy sheriff and Isaac W. was also an attorney, and served for a time as postmaster at St. Paul, this county.
Hopkins, one of the associate judges at the time the office was abolished. was foreman of the first grand jury which convened in the county. was first county treasurer and was a charter member of the Kingston Presbyterian church. His parents wished to prepare him for the ministry, declaring that he was a born theologian. He was a Democrat of the Jackson-Benton school and believed in hard money. He cared little for popularity and had he played politics, might have reached a high place in the affairs of Indiana.
EARLY MURDER TRIALS.
One of the most famous murder trials ever held in Decatur county was that of James Wiley, who was convicted in June, 1869, of the murder of Joseph Woodward, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was pardoned after serving ten years and died soon after his release from the penitentiary.
Wiley killed Woodward in a fight at Milford, in November, 1868, when Republicans were celebrating the election of Grant. Hiram Alley received a two years' sentence for complicity in the crime. Judge George H. Chap- man, of Indianapolis, occupied the bench at the trial. The verdict was returned after an hour's deliberation.
One of the most famous murder trials that ever came before the Decatur county bench was that of Jacob Block and Elsa Block, brought here from Rush county upon a change of venue. The Blocks, father and son, were Hebrews and were charged with the murder of Eli Block, a Hebrew merch- ant and a business competitor. The Blocks spent large sums of money in pro- viding for their defense and an imposing array of legal talent was gathered at the Decatur county court house when the case was tried.
The case was tried before Judge James C. Hiller, of Indianapolis. Jacob Block. the father, had been previously tried at Rush county and had been found guilty of murder in the first degree, but the higher courts had sustained a motion in error and ordered a new trial. He was represented by Daniel W. Voorhees, while the son was defended by Charles HI. Blackburn. a famous Cincinnati criminal lawyer. Both were sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.
281
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
STEPPING-STONE TO CONGRESS.
One of the early cases tried in Decatur county courts is related by Oliver H. Smith in a series of articles in the old Indianapolis Journal on "Early Indiana Trials." The case was tried before Associate Judges Fugit and Adkins, in 1823. The case was against a man who had refused to work two days on a school house, as provided by law. James T. Brown defended the man and Mr. Smith appeared for the school commissioner.
Brown facetiously raised the point that his client was not ablebodied, although he was over six feet tall and proportionately broad. Judge Fugit ruled thus :
"Yes, Mr. Brown, that is the point-you plead well on that, but it is nothing but the plea of a lawyer; you admitted that the man who stood before us was your client, and the court will take notice, 'fishio,' as the law books say, that he is an able-bodied man and no mistake; judgment for two dollars."
Smith says that he received his fee of five dollars and always after had Decatur county's undivided support when he was a candidate for Congress.
EARLY BAR HISTORY.
When counties in southern Indiana were organized and for many years thereafter, members of the legal profession were few in number, but were usually men of striking personality and great force of character. There were two terms of circuit court a year and lawyers followed the presiding judge on his rounds, taking whatever business came their way.
Consequently, it is not surprising that when the first meeting of the Decatur county circuit court was held, April 9, 1822, several attorneys were on hand to ask for permission to practice their profession in this court. The old county records show that three lawyers were admitted to the Decatur county bar on this date. They were Thomas Douglass, Joseph .A. Hopkins and Seth Tucker. Beyond swearing in a county clerk and the appointment of Joseph Hopkins as prosecuting attorney, the court transacted no business. When the October term began, October 7, two more attorneys sought and received admission to the bar. They were James T. Brown and Charles H. Test.
Nothing is known of Douglass, beyond the original entry, showing that the first court held in the county gave him permission to practice his
282
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
profession in Decatur county. Tucker's record has also been lost, but it is presumed that he subsequently located permanently in some other county.
Hopkins, the first prosecuting attorney, soon fell into disrepute and left the county. He was a native of Kentucky and had practiced law there before coming to Indiana. He left the Blue Grass state "under a cloud," and appar- ently did not mend his ways when he settled in the new state. He died in Illinois. Ile is said to have been a brilliant man and an excellent lawyer.
James T. Brown was the first Greensburg lawyer to attain prominence. He was quite eccentric, but possessed a very saving sense of humor. His jokes and anecdotes made him a very interesting character. After practicing in Decatur county for a good many years he located at Lawrenceburg, where he died soon after the war. Brown was a bachelor and lived to a ripe old age. It is said that he was retained in almost every case of importance that was tried during his residence in this county. He was without political ambitions and gave his whole heart to his practice.
Andrew Davison, third resident member of the bar, came from Penn- sylvania and was admitted to practice in 1825. He was a learned, technical lawyer ; and it is said that as a pleader, in the professional sense, his superior never appeared at the Decatur county bar. His efforts were brief and direct and delivered in a most forceful manner.
Chance played a large part in Davison's selection of Greensburg as a location. He was educated for the ministry, but after his graduation from Franklin College, Pennsylvania, he decided that he would study law. Upon being admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, he departed for a horseback trip through Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, seeking restoration of his health. While upon his return trip his jaded steed dropped, completely exhausted, at Greensburg. Finding a considerable colony of Presbyterians there he cast his lot with them and soon rose to eminence in his profession.
Davison was elected a member of the supreme court in 1852 and was re-elected in 1858. Ile was defeated for a third term in 1864 and never re- sumed active practice. The only other public office he ever held was the post- mastership at Greensburg, given to him when Andrew Jackson made his famous shake-up in federal postoffices and established a precedent that was followed by all succeeding Presidents. In 1839 Davison married a daughter of Judge Test. His death occurred in 1871. He was in his day one of the foremost lawyers in the state ; possessed a fine character in public and private life and left a large estate. He left one son, Joseph, who died a few years later.
283
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
OTHER EARLY FIGURES AT TIIE BAR.
Other attorneys who practiced in the Decatur county court in those early days were Oliver H. Smith, afterwards United States senator from Indiana, and John Test, who was admitted in 1830. This John Test was the second son of John Test, Sr., who represented this district in Congress from 1829 to 1835. Young Test died of tuberculosis in 1839 and his widow some time later married Judge Davison.
Martin Jamison, who had studied law under James Brown, was admitted to the bar in 1827. He served in the state Legislature in 1839 and died of lung trouble in 1841. In his short career he built up a very lucrative practice.
Following Jamison, Joseph Robison was the next to be admitted to the bar. He was not well versed in legal procedure, and his knowledge of the fundamentals of the law left something to be desired ; but as an advocate he stood head and shoulders above the other lawyers of those early days. He was a candidate for Congress on the Whig ticket in 1851, but was defeated by John L. Robinson, the Democratic incumbent. The latter was the father of Joseph Robinson, of Anderson, who represented that district in the Legis- lature for a number of terms.
Before his admission to the bar, Robinson served as sheriff for two terms, during which time he read law. He had but little education, and when he was married was unable to read and write. He represented Decatur county several times in the state Legislature and was a delegate to the con- stitutional convention of 1850.
The next citizen of Decatur county to be admitted to the practice of law was John D. Haynes, a native of New York. He completed a previously begun course of study in the office of Judge Davison, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He moved to Dearborn county in 1843 and was later elected judge of the court of common pleas of Dearborn and Ohio counties.
Philander Hamilton and Henry Spottswood Christian located in Greens- burg next. Hamilton gave promise of a brilliant career, but died young and before he had attained the summit of his powers. Christian was a native of Virginia, and claimed relationship with some of the first colonial families of that state. The path of the young lawyer was no more strewn with roses in those days than it is at present, so hie quit his office for a year to teach in the old seminary and then returned to practice, with better results. He later located at Versailles and died there, of tuberculosis, in 1859.
At the first session of the Decatur county court after the adoption of
284
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
the new Constitution, which convened on April 25. 1853, James Gavin, Daniel Patterson and Archibald McKee were admitted to the bar.
Lawyers from other counties, who have had cases in the local court. have frequently been admitted to practice upon motion, as a courtesy, and many names appear upon the records of men who have never practiced regu- larly in the local courts. In 1842 A. A. Hammond was thus admitted on motion. Mr. Hammond was later elected lieutenant-governor of the state.
Seven lawyers were admitted in 1844. They were Edward Sanders, S. E. Perkins, who later was elevated to the supreme bench : Squire W. Robinson, Samuel Seabaugh, Silas Overturf, J. S. Scobey and Hugh F. Fugit.
PROMINENT FIGURES AT THE BAR.
Col. John S. Scobey, one of the most famous members of the Decatur county bar, was born near Cincinnati in 1818, and was educated in the Frank- lin county schools. He was a student for two years at Miami University, quitting his collegiate studies to read law in the office of Governor Bebb at Hamilton. Later, intending to practice in Indiana, he left Hamilton and resumed his studies at Brookville, where he was admitted to the bar in 1844. He settled at Greensburg the same year.
Scobey was circuit prosecutor from 1847 to 1850, and in 1852 was elected state senator from this county. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Governor Morton, who was his classmate at Miami, telegraphed him to come to Indianapolis at once. As a result of the interview, Scobey returned to Decatur county and raised Company A, of the Sixty-eighth Regiment. Indi- ana Infantry. He performed valorous service throughout the war and his rise was rapid. He soon rose from captain to major and in 1863 became lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-eighth Regiment. When Colonel King fell at Chickamauga, Scobey was assigned to command of the regiment.
Upon his return to civil life he engaged for a time in business affairs, before resuming the practice of law. He was three times a presidential elector. The first time was in 1852, on the Whig ticket; the second time, in 1872, on the Democratic ticket, and again in 1876 on the Democratic ticket.
Barton W. Wilson, who was the next to be admitted to the bar, was a graduate of Indiana University and located in Greensburg in 1848. He was a candidate for the state Senate in 1852, but was defeated by William J. Robinson. His defeat was largely due to his endorsement of the compromise measures of 1850. Wilson was a public-spirited man, willing and able at any time to help forward any enterprise which had for its aim the betterment
285
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
of his city. It is said that, throughout his active career, there was no public undertaking that did not draw largely upon his purse and personal services. The first fire engine owned by the city of Greensburg was named for him.
Not only was Barton W. Wilson a well-read elementary lawyer, but he kept well up with the rulings of the courts of his day and was most pains- taking in preparation of his eases. He held many posts of honor in local affairs, for which he was indebted to political foes as well as to the members of his own party.
TOOK PART IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Col. James Gavin, another leader at the bar in that day, was a man of unusual ability. He had acquired an education, married and was practicing law before he had attained his majority. He taught school in Union county for a time and then moved to Greensburg, where he was admitted to the bar in 1853. In a short time he had built up a large practice. He was born in 1830 and died in 1873.
At the outbreak of the war. James Gavin was made adjutant of the Seventh Regiment and when it was reorganized, at the end of its three- months enlistment, he became its lieutenant-colonel. He was given command of this regiment in 1862 and served until the spring of 1863, at which time he resigned on account of a wound received during the second battle of Bull Run. In 1864 he was made colonel of one of the hundred-day regiments sent to Tennessee to relieve the veterans of Sherman's army.
Colonel Gavin was originally a Democrat, but was a candidate in 1862 for Congress on the Union ticket. being defeated by William S. Holman. After the war he was elected county clerk upon the Republican ticket. He resigned this office to accept an appointment as internal revenue collector. which had been proffered him by President Johnson. He did not secure this office, however, as the Senate refused to confirm the appointment ; so he retired from official life and returned to the Democratic party.
One of Colonel Gavin's contemporaries was Oscar B. Hord, who later attained national recognition as a legal authority. Hord came from Ken- tueky, a member of a family of lawyers. He was a member of the bar at Maysville, Kentucky, until 1851, in which year he located in Greensburg. He was very young and rather diffident, but the time not needed by clients he devoted to study and so became one of the most thorough lawyers in Indiana. He associated himself with James Gavin and wrote "Gavin and Hord's Indi- ana Statutes," with full annotations, which was greatly appreciated by the profession in this state.
286
DECATUR COUNTY, INDIANA.
Hord was elected attorney-general in 1862 and moved to Indianapolis. After his teri expired he went into the firm of Hendricks. Hord & Hen- dricks, of Indianapolis, one of the leading law firms of the state. He was one of the most highly trained members of the profession that the Decatur county bar has ever given to the state.
Charles F. Parrish and James Coverdill came to Greensburg from Ohio, in 1851, and established the firm of Coverdill & Parrish, which continued for two years, at the end of which time Parrish left the county and Coverdill joined with James Gavin in the formation of a new firm. Parrish won high honors during the Civil War and retired as colonel of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Coverdill made a poor soldier ; quit the service and died in Cincinnati shortly after the war.
Gen. Ira G. Grover, Decatur county's most illustrious soldier, was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1832. His parents moved to Greensburg and he enjoyed the best educational advantages that could be obtained there, after which he was sent to Asbury Academy, now DePauw University, where he was graduated in 1856, with first honors. Grover taught school until 1850, in which year he was elected to the state Legislature, where he served during the regular session and through part of the special session called at the out- break of the Civil War. Having been elected a lieutenant in Company B. Seventh Regiment. Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he quit his seat in the Legis- lature and served through the war. On the return of the "three-months men," he organized a new company and was chosen its captain. He was with the Seventh in every fight in which it took part, until he was captured during the first day of the Battle of the Wilderness, in May, 1864.
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.