USA > Indiana > Decatur County > History of Decatur County, Indiana: its people, industries and institutions > Part 27
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General Grover was wounded three times during the war, at Ft. Republic, second Bull Run and in the Wilderness, during which latter engage- ment he was taken prisoner and placed in prison at Charlestown, where, with a number of other Union officers, he was placed under fire of their own bat- teries. After some time he was exchanged and after a short visit in Greens- burg, returned to his regiment in time to be mustered out. At the close of the war he held the rank of colonel of the Seventh and was later, for his gallant services, breveted brigadier-general by President Lincoln.
Before the outbreak of the war General Grover had studied law and he resumed his studies upon his return to Greensburg. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, but on account of his political activities never engaged in the practice of the legal profession. He was the Republican nominee for Con- gress in 1866, but was defeated by William S. Holman. He was twice elected clerk of the Decatur county circuit court. Near the close of his second
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term, he showed signs of a mental affliction, due to wounds received in the service, and was placed for care and treatment in a state institution. He died on May 30, 1873.
Judge Samuel A. Bonner, for twelve years judge of the eighth judicial cireuit, was born on an Alabama plantation, in 1826. His father abhorred slavery and came to Greensburg to educate his children, out of reach of its baneful influence. He was educated at Riehland Academy, Miami University and Center College, Danville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1849. For a time he read law in the office of Andrew Davison and then entered the Indiana University law school. Upon his graduation, in 1852. Bonner was admitted to the Decatur county bar. He formed a partnership with Barton W. Wilson, which continued until he was elected to the Legisla- ture, in 1854. Two years later he was elected judge of the common-pleas court of Rush and Decatur counties, serving for four years. When he retired from public life, in 1860, he formed a partnership with William Cum- baek, which lasted until Cumbaek retired from practice.
In 1877 Judge Bonner was called by election to the bench of the eireuit court where he served for twelve years. He then became senior partner of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Bennet, with which he remained until his death, on April 5, 1904.
ENTERED PUBLIC LIFE EARLY.
Cortez Ewing, elder brother of James K. Ewing, dean of the Decatur county bar, was born in 1837 and entered public life at the early age of thir- teen ; filling, at that tender stage of his career, the office of deputy elerk and recorder under Henry H. Talbott, prominent office holder of the early days. In 1857 Cortez Ewing was given a position in the general land office at Washington, D. C., under Thomas A. Hendricks, who was then commis- sioner of the general land office. Ewing was admitted to the bar in 1858, and began the practice of law in 1860. For the next two years he was in the office of Gavin & Hord, and assisted Hord in his work of revision of the laws of Indiana. He became a partner of Hord, but later entered practice alone. He served, from 1874 to 1878, as trustee of the state institute for the educa- tion of the blind. Later in life he quit the law to become cashier of the Third National Bank of Greensburg. Much of the early success of this institution is due to the respect in which Mr. Ewing was held throughout the county. He died in 1887.
Judge John D. Miller, who also served upon the bench of the eighth
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judicial circuit, was born near Clarksburg, this county, in 1840, and thus was one of the first native-born attorneys to achieve eminence in the legal profession. He entered Hanover College in 1859, but in 1861 left college and enlisted in Company G, Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private throughout the Civil War. Upon the close of the war, he studied law with Overstreet & Hunter, at Franklin, and was admitted to the bar in 1866, after which he moved to Greensburg. In 1872 he was elected to the Legislature from Decatur and Rush counties. Prior to his election to the Legislature, he had served Greensburg as city clerk and city attorney. From 1868 until 1873 he was the law partner of Colonel Gavin. In 1891 Judge Miller, was appointed to. the supreme bench of the state to fill a vacancy and served until 1893. He was the Republican candidate for the same high office in 1892, but was defeated. He then resumed the practice of law and in 1894 was elected circuit judge. He died on March 20, 1898.
ELEVATED TO APPELLATE BENCH.
Frank E. Gavin, of the firm of Gavin, Gavin & Davis, of Indianapolis, is the son of James Gavin and was for many years a leading member of the Decatur county bar. He was born on February 20, 1854, and entered Har- vard College, graduating from that institution with the class of 1873. He studied law with Judge John D. Miller and was admitted to the bar on February 19, 1875. the day before he attained his majority. He served for several years as county attorney and in 1892 was elected judge of the appel- late court for the second district. Upon leaving the bench, Judge Gavin formed business associations in Indianapolis and has since continued the practice of law in that city. He was married in 1876 to Ella B. Lathrop. daughter of James B. Lathrop. He is a prominent Mason and was at one time grand master of that order in Indiana.
John L. Bracken, who served one term as prosecuting attorney of Decatur county, was admitted to the bar in 1871. For a number of years he was associated with M. D. Tackett, in the firm of Bracken & Tackett. In 1878 he was elected circuit prosecutor and served one term. He quit the law some time after and engaged in the monument business at Richmond, Indi- ana, later accepting appointment as deputy revenue collector under his brother, William H. Bracken, of Brookville. A widow and one son survive him.
Marine D. Tackett was born on a Decatur county farm, three and one- half miles from Greensburg, October 26, 1841, and moved to Greensburg
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with his parents, at the age of ten. After completing his education in the city schools he learned the trade of cabinet maker, which he followed until the beginning of the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Third Indiana Artillery. He saw service with Fremont and Sherman and was mustered out with three years of honorable service to his credit. He lost an arm by the premature discharge of a cannon, while celebrating the election of Governor Morton.
Tackett was admitted to the bar in 1874 and three years later was appointed city attorney of Greensburg, serving in that office until ISSI, in which year he was appointed prosecuting attorney of the eighth judicial dis- trict by Governor Morton, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Richard Durnan, who had succeeded John L. Bracken. He then held the office for four years more by election. He was a member of the state central committee of the Republican party for four years and a delegate to the national convention in Chicago, in 1888; in which year he declined the Republican nomination for Congress. He was chief allotting agent of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians in 1891. In 1892 he was elected clerk of the Decatur circuit court and was a candidate for re-election in 1896. Before he became prosecutor he was a member of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Ben- nett, also had served for a time as postmaster at Greensburg. At the time of his death he was associated with Davison Wilson, under the firm name of Tackett & Wilson.
William H. Goddard, who during his time, was Decatur county's lead- ing pension attorney, was born in Clinton township on February 22, 1837. He taught school until 1861. when he was appointed to a clerical position in the department of the interior. Later he was transferred to the treasury department, where he remained until his return to Greensburg, in 1876. While at the national capital he studied law at the Georgetown Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1872. At the request of James G. Blaine, he was appointed. in. 1881, assistant superintendent of the railway mail service, with headquarters at St. Louis.
Goddard's legal practice consisted almost entirely of the settlement of pension claims ; and, on account of his knowledge of such matters and his personal acquaintance with the business of the pension bureau, he was re- markably successful. During the last ten years of his life he was associated in practice with his son, John F. Goddard. He died on June 21, 1901.
John F. Goddard was born on October 22, 1858, in Clay township, this county, and was graduated from Indiana University in 1880. He was admitted to the bar in 1891, but did not commence active practice until 1896.
(19)
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In 1905 he formed a law partnership with John W. Craig, and the firm of Goddard & Craig is the oldest law firm in Greensburg. John W. Craig was born in Greensburg in 1880, and was graduated from the Indiana Law School before attaining his majority. He served as deputy prosecutor before he was twenty-one; had a murder indictment returned. but being too young to be admitted to the bar, was compelled to secure another attorney to handle the case when it came to trial.
Judge W. A. Moore was born on a farm in Franklin county, August 16, 1838. When he had completed his preparatory education he entered the office of Judge Bonner and read law there. He was admitted to practice in 1866. The same year he was elected to the state Legislature, where he served one term. In 1870 he was elected common-pleas judge of the twenty- second judicial district and filled the office until it was abolished by act of the Legislature.
In 1876 Judge Moore was elected to the state Senate upon the Repub- lican ticket and served two terms. He then returned to private practice, con- tinuing the same until his death.
Davison Wilson, a former prominent member of the Decatur county bar, was born in Greensburg, and was educated in the schools of that city and at Indiana University. He studied law for a time in the office of W. B. Wilson and was admitted to the bar on September 6, 1881. He formed his first legal partnership with Judge David A. Myers, and some time later estab- lished his office with Cortez Ewing; then with M. D. Tackett. Later he engaged in the practice of his profession alone. Wilson was a man of small stature, but a most excellent lawyer. His education gave him a strong foundation for general practice. His speeches were models of brevity and conciseness and his diction was both pure and elegant. For many years he was the one of the leading representatives of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chi- cago & St. Louis Railroad Company. He never married. He died in 1911.
GREENSBURG'S FOREMOST CITIZEN.
William Cumback, who, during his long career of public usefulness, was Greensburg's foremost and most distinguished citizen, was admitted to the Decatur county bar in 1853, after a short preparatory course at the Cincinnati Law School. Save during the periods when he was in the service of the government in many a case before the Decatur county bar during more than forty years he appeared upon one side or the other.
Congressman at twenty-five, defeating the seasoned politician, William
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S. Holman, "the watchdog of the treasury," and on terms of intimate rela- tionship with the nation's great in the critical period during the sessions of the thirty-fourth Congress, young Cumback was a character that attracted national attention.
Defeated for re-election in 1856 by an influx of foreign voters, he again came into prominence in 1860, when he cast the electoral vote of Indiana for Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. At the first call to arms he joined the colors as a private in the Thirteenth Regi- ment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He later was appointed paymaster in the army and disbursed more than sixty million dollars without the loss of a penny. He was elected state senator in 1866, became president of the Senate in 1867 and lieutenant- governor in 1868.
In 1871 Governor Cumback declined the proffered appointment as min- ister to Portugal and in that year was made collector of internal revenue for his district, serving for twelve years. Until his death, in August, 1905, he spent much of his time on the lecture platform, being a very popular and entertaining speaker. Governor Cumback was an earnest member of the Methodist church and his voice for years was one of the most influential in the great councils of American Methodism.
Christopher Shane, a prominent member of the Decatur county bar many years ago, was born in Shelby county on August 11, 1833. He first practiced law in 1865 with Judge William A. Moore. For four years before he was ad- mitted to the bar he was a clerk in the pension bureau at Washington, D. C. Beginning in 1867, he served six years as mayor of Greensburg and was later city and county attorney. Some years after he went into the insurance busi- ness in Washington and died in that state.
Douglas Watts, stepson of Colonel Scobey, was born in Cincinnati on August 27, 1858, and in 1877 moved to Greensburg, where he was employed as clerk by an uncle. He was admitted to the bar in 1880 and died a few years after in the West, whither he had gone for his health.
DEAN OF TIIE DECATUR COUNTY BAR.
Judge James K. Ewing, dean of the Decatur county bar, son of Patrick Ewing, one of the pioneer settlers of Clay township and father of several distinguished sons, was born in Decatur county on November 23, 1843. He studied law with his brother. Cortez Ewing, and later formed a partnership with the latter, which lasted until 1883, when the elder Ewing retired to
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become a banker. James K. Ewing then formed a partnership with his nephew. Cortez Ewing, Jr., which lasted until 1893. In that year, through the death of Judge John W. Study, Mr. Ewing was appointed to the bench of the eighth judicial circuit, serving in that capacity until 1895, when he retired to private practice, first in partnership with John D. Wallingford, then with G. L. Tremain, then with Frank Hamilton and now with Fred F. Smith. Mr. Ewing was a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1888 and made races for the local circuit judgeship in 1888 and 1896, but was both times defeated. He was then associated for a time with another nephew. Judge Ewing has a well-earned reputation as a lawyer and is held in the utmost esteem and respect ; not only by members of the Decatur county bar, but by his many clients, with whom his dealings have always been most careful and just.
SURMOUNTED GREAT HANDICAP.
John Quincy Donnell, although not engaged in the practice of law, is a member of the Decatur county bar. He was educated at the Indiana state school for the blind and at Oberlin College. In 1878 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature and served one term. For a time he was a member of the firm of Boothe & Donnell and later edited the Greensburg Review and a paper at Anderson, Indiana. Although totally blind, Mr. Donnell has mar- velous ability in a number of fields and is reputed to be one of the ablest chess players in this part of the state.
B. F. Bennett, who removed, in 1914, to California, was born on March 31, 1854, in this county and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He served four terms as county attorney, was a member of the Greensburg school board and active in all movements for the good of the community. He was first associated with Judge Moore and upon his partner's death became a member of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Bennett. When that firm was broken up, hie formed a partnership with Thomas E. Davidson, under the firm name of Bennett & Davidson.
Samuel B. Edward was born on November 29, 1852, in Washington township, studied at the Indianapolis Commercial College and was graduated in 1871. He studied two years at Butler College and then read law in the office of Bonner & Bracken. He was admitted to the bar in 1875. In 1883 he was elected mayor of Greensburg. When he retired from office he prac- ticed law again for a time and then turned his attention to a stone quarry at Harris, this county. In 1910 he represented Decatur county in the state Leg-
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islature. His death occurred in the spring of 1815. He is survived by one son, Louis, who lives at Harris.
Barton Porter, brother of Alexander Porter, practiced law in Greens- burg one year before his death, in 1903. He was a graduate of Indiana University, completing his legal education at that institution in 1902. Upon leaving college he formed a partnership with George L. Tremain. He was a promising young attorney and would doubtless have risen high in his chosen profession, but for his untimely death.
John L. Davis, who was elected prosecuting attorney in 1898, came to Decatur county from Rising Sun, Indiana, and formed a partnership with Judge Moore. His father was Rodney L. Davis, one of the leading attor- neys of Ohio county. Davis died in 1901.
Thomas L. Creath, another outside lawyer, who became prosecutor, was born in Batesville, Indiana. He was elected to this office in 1900 and served one terni. When his term expired he formed a partnership with John Parker, which lasted until he moved to Versailles in 1904. His death occurred in 1914.
Elmer Roland, who served as prosecutor of the ninth judicial circuit from 1896 to 1898, was born in Columbus, Indiana, but came to Decatur county at an early age. Upon being admitted to the bar he commenced the practice of law in partnership with John Osborn. Roland married a daughter of Brutus Hamilton and now resides in Mississippi.
George L. Tremain, of the firm of Tremain & Turner, was born in Bartholomew county, April 6, 1877, was graduated from Central Normal College, Danville, Indiana, in 1900, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He first practiced with Barton Porter, then with Judge Ewing until 1906, and then with Charles Ewing until 1908, since which time he has been associated in practice with Rolin A. Turner.
Oscar G. Miller, of the firm of Miller & Ryan, was born in Rush county, and came to Greensburg in 1882. For three years he taught school and studied law at the same time, being admitted to the bar in 1888. He then took the liberal arts course at DePauw University and was graduated in 1891. He was for a time associated with Judge Moore. Charles L. Ryan, the junior partner of this firm, is engaged in the insurance business. He was born in Decatur county in 1884 and was admitted to the bar in 1910.
Two Decatur county lawyers, who held the office of prosecuting attor- ney and later moved to other locations and have almost been forgotten, were Platt Wicks and Creighton Dandy. Wicks was prosecuting attorney before the Civil War and after quitting the public service, moved to Harlan, Iowa,
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where he accumulated a fortune. Ile has been dead for a number of years. Creighton Dandy was prosecutor from 1875 to 1880. When he lived in Greensburg he owned the property where the Espy house now is. He went from Greensburg to Lawrenceburg, where he built up a profitable practice. He also is dead.
John H. Parker, who does a general abstracting business, was born in Rush county, January 26, 1866, and was admitted to the bar in 1892. lle first formed a partnership with Myron C. Jenkins and later with T. L. Creath. Since the death of Creath he has been practicing alone.
A. H. Fisher, father of Carl Fisher, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company, at one time practiced law in Greensburg, but moved to Indianapolis when Carl was about twelve years old. The elder Fisher was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1847, and was admitted to the Morgan county bar in 1871. He was at one time deputy prosecutor of Decatur county. Fisher was of a rather belligerent disposition, and besides whipping the town marshal at one time, occasionally made things warm for other members of the bar. He once clashed with Judge Ewing, and the two were at swords' points for more than a year. Later, matters were amicably adjusted.
Roy E. Glidewell. a younger member of the Decatur county bar, was born on a farm, six miles east of Greensburg, on November 26, 1891. He was educated in the common schools and later studied law, being admitted to practice in 1914. He has his office with Judge Ewing.
Judge Hugh D. Wickens was born, August 30, 1870, on a farm near North Vernon, Indiana. He obtained a common and high school education in the North Vernon schools and afterward taught school in Jennings county. Indiana, in Tennessee, and at Vincennes, Indiana. He was graduated from the Indiana Law School of Indianapolis, May 29. 1895, and came to Greens- burg, July 1. 1895, and was soon afterward admitted to the Decatur county bar. He practiced law by himself until November 1, 1897, when he formed a partnership with John Osborn, continuing in the firm of Wickens & Osborn until he was elected judge of the ninth judicial circuit of Indiana in 1910. IIe served as county attorney during 1900 and 1901. He is a Democrat and a member of the Elks lodge.
Myron C. Jenkins was admitted to the bar of the Decatur circuit court before Judge Samuel A. Bonner in 1886. Beginning in that year. he was in partnership with John H. Parker for some time. He was elected clerk of Decatur county in 1904 and re-elected in 1908, serving eight years in that office. Upon closing his last term of office, he resumed the practice of law. He has sat as special judge at numerous times in the Decatur circuit court.
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George Bruce served a short while as deputy prosecuting attorney in the time when William V. O'Donnell, now of St. Louis, was prosecuting attorney of the ninth judicial circuit in 1909 and 1910. In 1911 and 1912 Horace C. Skillman was deputy prosecuting attorney for Decatur county during the term of Ralph Spaugh. Mr. Skillman removed to Colorado Springs, Colo- rado, in 1913.
F. Gates Ketchum was admitted to the bar in 1909. He has been in the practice of the law since March, 1913, having offices in the Citizens Bank building. Since his appearance at the bar he has been of counsel for one side or the other in several important cases.
David A. Myers, of the Decatur county bar, was elected to the appellate court of Indiana for two terms. He was admitted to the bar at Greensburg before Judge Bonner, in September, 1881. In 1890 he was elected prosecut- ing attorney of the eighth judicial circuit of Indiana, then embracing Rush and Decatur counties, and was re-elected to that office in 1892. In 1899 he succeeded Judge John D. Miller on the bench for Rush and Decatur counties, serving as circuit judge from March, 1899, until January of the ensuing year. Judge Myers was elected to the appellate court in 1904, and re-elected in 1908, serving as appellate judge until January 1, 1913. Since that date he has been engaged in active practice at Greensburg.
Rollin A. Turner, in the same year that he graduated from college, entered into the law partnership of Tremain & Turner. He is a graduate of the college of law of Harvard University in the class of 1907. In that year he came to Greensburg and has continuously since been in active practice with G. L. Tremain. Mr. Turner was the Republican candidate for Congress in the fourth congressional district of Indiana in the campaign of 1912.
After having served as deputy auditor of Decatur county, John E. Osborn was admitted to the bar in 1897. He formed a partnership at once with Elmer E. Roland, who was then prosecuting attorney. He continued in partnership with Mr. Roland until November, 1897, at which time Wickens & Osborn formed a partnership, which continued until Mr. Wickens was elected to the bench in 1910. In December, 1910, Mr. Osborn and Lewis A. Harding formed a partnership. Frank Hamilton became a member of the firm on January 1, 1912, and Mr. Harding entered the office of prosecuting attorney at the commencement of 1913. Mr. Osborn served as Democratic chairman of the sixth congressional district of Indiana.
Frank Hamilton, before he began the study of law, attended Butler College in 1900 and 1901. He was a student in the law school of Indiana University from 1901 to 1904. He entered the Indiana Law School of
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Indianapolis in 1905 and was graduated from that school in the same year. He then continued the study of law further, after his graduation, in the law office of Tackett & Wilson in Greensburg. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1905. He practiced in partnership with James K. Ewing during the period of 1906 to 1912, and in 1912 joined in partnership with Osborn & Harding. Mr. Hamilton was deputy prosecuting attorney from 1907 to 1909. He was county attorney during the year 1912.
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