USA > Indiana > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Indiana : her people, industries and institutions > Part 30
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The question of rating lawyers on the basis of their ability is a difficult thing to do, and yet by common consent there are a few of the lawyers of the county whose pre-eminence is universally conceded. First and foremost among this number are the two Smiths, Oliver H. and Caleb B. (not kins- men), both of whom rose to a high rank in their profession and to a high position in the affairs of the nation, the former becoming a United States senator, and the latter, a member of Congress and later secretary of the interior under President Lincoln. An extended sketch of both men is given in another chapter.
Ranking along with these two men is Samuel W. Parker, a teacher, newspaper editor, member of the Legislature and finally a member of Con- gress. As a lawyer he was probably the equal of either of the Smiths, although he was not as widely known in national affairs, These three men, together with William W. Wick, Andrew Kennedy and Samuel C. Sample; constitute the leaders among the lawyers of the county who finally reached the halls of Congress. Wick, Kennedy and Sample, however, can hardly be considered as Fayette county lawyers, since they left the county shortly
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
after being admitted to the bar and cast their lots with other counties in the state.
MORE LAWYERS IN CONGRESS.
There are two other local lawyers who have been elected to Congress, Jeremiah H. Wilson and Finly H. Gray, the latter having closed his third term on March 4, 1917. Wilson was a former common pleas and circuit judge, and after his second term in Congress (1875) located in Washing- ton, D. C., where he practiced until his death. This completes the list of lawyers of Fayette county who have succeeded in being elected to Congress. Jonathan McCarty, the other congressman from this district elected from this county, was not a lawyer.
Of the remaining lawyers, now deceased, there are a few who stand out above the rest. Probably the best of the earlier group was Benjamin F. Claypool, who was born in Connersville on December 12, 1825, and who spent his whole career in the city of his birth. He is credited with being the first person born in Fayette county to graduate from Asbury (DePauw) University (1845). He took a prominent part in political affairs. He was a delegate to the first Republican convention in 1856 and served as presi- dential elector in 1864 and again in 1868. He was also interested in bank- ing, first as president of a state bank and later as president of the First National Bank of Connersville, serving in the latter capacity until his death.
Contemporaneous with Claypool, and but two years younger, was James C .. McIntoshi, likewise a native of Connersville (January 13, 1827- August 27, 1878), and a lifelong resident of the city. He was also a gradu- ate of Asbury (DePauw) University, class of 1849, and a year after gradu- ating began the study of law and practiced continuously from the time of his admission to the bar in 1851 until his death in 1878. He is deserving of being ranked with the best lawyers in the county.
LAWYER ALSO A POET.
A peculiarly gifted lawyer of Connersville for twenty-five years was John S. Reid, a native of Scotland, and a resident of the United States from 1839 until his death at Indianapolis, September 5, 1879. He was educated at Oxford, England, and after coming to this country took a degree from Miami University, Ohio. He taught school and practiced law at Liberty, Indiana, from 1840 to 1851 ; practiced in Connersville from 1851 to 1876, and lived in Indianapolis the last two years of his life. He served as a com-
REUBEN CONNER.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
mon pleas judge for seven years; as a member of the constitutional con- vention in 1850-51, and as a member of the state Senate. He was con- sidered one of the best poets of the state during his generation and left one pretentious volume of verse to justify his right to be classed among the poets of the state.
Reuben Conner was for more than forty years one of the leading law- yers of the local bar. Born in Decatur county, Indiana, December 8, 1850, he became first a teacher and later a lawyer, practicing in Connersville from the time of his admission to the bar in 1873 until his death, February 9, 1915. He never held an official position, but devoted his whole legal career to the general practice of his profession. He has one son, Alonzo, who is now practicing in Connersville.
The official careers of all the lawyers of the county as far as they have been connected with the local courts is given in the discussion in the latter part of this chapter. The bar in 1917 is composed of the following mem- bers: F. B. Ansted, F. I. Barrows, L. L. Broaddus, Albert L. Chrisman, James A. Clifton, Alonzo Conner, Frank M. Edwards, Richard N. Elliott, George C. Florea, Hyatt L. Frost, George W. Goble, Finly H. Gray, George L. Gray, J. S. Hankins, E. Ralph Himelick, G. Edwin Johnston, David W. McKee, John S. Muddell, William E. Ochiltree, Clarence S. Roots, W. E. Sparks, Raymond S. Springer, Charles F. Vance and Allen M. Wiles-a total of twenty-four.
It is not possible to give a summary of the living lawyers. They are yet making their reputations. before the bar. Of the older attorneys, George C. Florea, George I .. Gray, Hyatt I .. Frost, David W. McKee, L. L. Broad- dus and W. E. Ochiltree may be mentioned. Raymond S. Springer, the present judge of the circuit court, is the youngest judge who has ever been elected to the bench in the local circuit and one of the youngest in the state. All of the younger generation of lawyers are graduates of law schools, while practically all of the older members of the bar received their training in the office of some lawyer already in the practice.
LAWYERS OF FAYETTE COUNTY FOR ONE HUNDRED YEARS.
It will probably never be known how many lawyers have practiced in Fayette county. Under the old constitution every lawyer who practiced in any other than his own county had to be admitted to the bar of any other county where he might happen to have a case. For this reason the local
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
records in the clerk's office, which give all the lawyers prior to 1852 who were at any time employed in a case, do not give a clue as to the actual residence of those so listed. The following list of lawyers includes only those who have been actually residents of the county for a time at least. The list follows :
Ansted, Frank B.
Goble, George W.
Ray, Martin M.
Barrows, Frederic I.
Gray, Finly H.
Reid, John S.
Broaddus, Lunsford L.
Gray, George L.
Roehl, Charles
Burrows, William S.
Hale, Martin
Roots, Clarence S.
Chrisman, Albert L.
Hall, Ozias
Sample, Samuel C.
Claypool, Benjamin F.
Hankins, J. S.
Sinks, Augustus M.
Claypool, Jefferson H.
Himelick, E. Ralph
Smith, Caleb Blood
Clifton, James A.
Huston, Frank M.
Smith. Oliver Hampton
Conner, Alonzo
Johnston, G. Edwin
Sparks, W. E.
Conner, Reuben
Justice, Joseph
Spooner, William L.
Daily, William
Kennedy, Andrew.
Springer, Raymond S.
Durnan, Richard .A.
Little, Joseph I.
Trusler, Gilbert
Edwards, Frank M.
Little, Thomas M.
Trusler, Ira T.
Elliott, Richard N.
McIntosh, James C.
Trusler, Nelson
Fay, James A.
McIntosh, James M.
Trusler, Thomas
Finch, Cyrus
McKee, David W.
Vance, Charles F.
Florea, George C.
Muddell, John S.
Vance, Elisha
Florea, Lewis W.
Murray, Charles A.
Veeder, Charles
Forrey, William C.
Nevin, Frank E.
Wiek, William W.
Fouts, Lewis C.
Ochiltree, William E.
Wiles, Allen M.
Frost, Hyatt L.
Parker, Samuel W.
Wilson, Jeremiah M. .
THE COURT HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY.
The history of the various courts of Fayette county takes the discussion outside the limits of the county. The county has never had a separate circuit court, having been united with one or more counties since its organization. The same may be said of the old common pleas court, which lasted from 1852 to 1873. The following account of Fayette county in its relations to the various courts with which it has been connected has been compiled directly from the official records. No effort has been made to characterize any of the lawyers; in fact, many of the court officials herein mentioned were not lawyers, and did not pretend to be. If an associate or probate judge was a lawyer it was counted as an accident. Dr. Philip Mason, how- ever, takes the trouble in his autobiography to explain how hard he studied law in order to pass the necessary examination to qualify for the office of probate judge, but there is no evidence to indicate that he ever tried a single case in the local courts. His legal career seems to have been confined solely to his administration of the office of probate judge.
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
FIRST SESSION OF THE CIRCUIT COURT.
The legislative act of December 28, 1818, creating Fayette county, pro- vided that the county should start its independent career on the first of the following January, but it was not until May 3, 1819, that the first session of the circuit court convened. The first court met at the house of George Reed in Connersville, with John Watts as president judge and Train Cald- well and Edward Webb as associate judges. The first court house, a rude log structure, was not ready for occupancy until later in the year.
The judicial system of the state under the 1816 Constitution bore little resemblance to the system established by the present Constitution in 1852. During the first thirty-six years of the history of the state (1816-1852) the circuit judges, known as president judges, were elected by the Legislature for terms of seven years. Each county, however, elected two judges, known. as associate judges, who sat with the president judge, or, in his absence, had the authority to preside over the circuit court. These associate judges were more frequently than otherwise men of no legal training, but made up in good common sense what they lacked in judicial knowledge. The associate judges, like the president judges, had a tenure of seven years, and in many counties they served. two or more terms.
When Fayette county was created it was attached to the third judicial circuit, which, at that time included the counties of Randolph, Wayne, Frank- lin, Dearborn, Switzerland. Ripley and Jennings. Fayette county remained. in the third circuit until the act of January 20, 1830, made it a part of the ; sixth circuit with Allen, Delaware, Randolph, Henry, Wayne, Union, Rush and Elkhart counties. During the eleven years it was a part of the third circuit only two president judges presided over the local court, John Watts and Miles Eggleston. At the time the county was organized, Alexander Meek was the presiding judge of the third circuit, but he resigned on Febru- ary 2, 1819, before a session of court had convened in the county. John Watts was elected by the Legislature on February 2, 1819, and continued to preside over the circuit until January 21, 1820, when he was succeeded by Miles C. Eggleston, one of the most famous of the early judges of the state. Judge Eggleston was still on the bench of the third circuit when Fayette county was placed in the sixth circuit by the act of January 20, 1830 ..
Three days after the Legislature had created the sixth circuit it elected Charles H. Test as the first judge of the new circuit, and he remained on the bench of the circuit until he resigned. on January 20, 1836. Judge Test
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
was followed by Samuel Bigger, who served until he resigned to make the race for governor. He was elected and served one term (1840-1843), being defeated for re-election in 1843 by James Whitcomb. Upon the resignation of Judge Bigger the Legislature elected James Perry to fill out the unex- pired term. Judge Perry served seven years, being followed on January 23, 1844, by Jehu T. Elliott, who occupied the bench for a full term. The last president judge was Oliver P. Morton, who served from February 15, 1851, to October 12, 1852, on which date the new Constitution went into operation.
ELECTION OF ASSOCIATE AND PROBATE JUDGES.
As has been mentioned, each county elected two associate judges during the period of the 1816 Constitution. The first two associate judges. elected in Fayette county were Train Caldwell and Edward Webb, the latter of whom served continuously from February 2, 1819, to February 2, 1847, when he was succeeded by John Scott, who served until the new Constitu- tion went into effect in 1852. Caldwell resigned on March 21, 1819, and two days later the governor appointed William Helm to fill his unexpired term. The successive judges following Helm, with the dates of their service were as follow: James Brownlee, February 2, 1826- died in office, July, 1827; William Miller, chosen at a special election and commissioned on November 1, 1827, to serve seven years from February 2, 1826; John Treadway, February 2, 1833-resigned on April 18, 1837; Stanhope Royster, appointed on June 23, 1837, to serve seven years from February 2, 1832, (so his commission reads), but Royster actually served until February 2, 1840; Jeremiah M. Wilson, February 2, 1840-February 2, 1847; Joshua McIntosh, February 2, 1847-October 12, 1852.
In addition to president and associate judges the state had probate judges under the 1816 Constitution. Such probate business as came before the circuit court prior to 1818 was handled by that court, but with the act of January 29, 1818, there was established a special probate court in each county in the state. These courts were to be presided over by the associate judges of the circuit court sitting as such. The statute also provided that if court was not sitting the clerk of the circuit court might take proof of wills and testaments and grant letters of administration and letters testamentary. However, all probate business transacted by the clerk was subject to the subsequent approval of the associate judges. The next step in the history of the old probate court was taken with the act of February II, 1825, an act which provided for a further separation of the probate court from the
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
circuit court, the associate judges still being left in charge of the court. The two judges held the sessions of the probate court at the county seat on the week immediately preceding the session of the circuit court.
A SEPARATE PROBATE COURT.
The business of the circuit and probate courts increased to such an extent that by 1829 it was deemed advisable to establish a probate court with a separate judge, and the act of January 23 of that year effected a complete separation of the probate from the circuit court. Instead of placing the court in charge of the two associate judges, provision was made for a spe- cial probate judge, elected by each county, for a term of seven years. The county sheriff and clerk of the circuit court were made ex-officio officers of the newly established court. This court continued in operation until 1852, when it was abolished by statute and all probate business placed under the jurisdiction of the newly created common pleas court.
The first session of the probate court in Fayette county convened, on April 26, 1819, with Train Caldwell and Edward Webb, associate judges, in charge. As has been stated, the associate judges had charge of the pro- bate court until 1829, the first elective probate judge, Philip Mason, being commissioned on August 18, 1829. Mason handed in his resignation on May 26, 1834, and there seems to have been an interim when there was no pro- bate judge in the county. Justus Wright, who was elected in August of the same year, was commissioned to serve seven years from August 4. 1834. and was re-elected in 1841 and 1848, serving until the court was discon- tinued in 1852.
CHANGES UNDER THE NEW CONSTITUTION.
The discussion thus far traces the judicial history of Fayette county up to the adoption of the 1852 Constitution. The new Constitution made a radical change in the judiciary of the state. Under the old constitution not only had the president judges been elected by the Legislature, but the supreme judges as well. In fact, all the state officers-secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, adjutant-general and others-had been elected by the Legislature. But with the new Constitution all of this changed. The supreme. judges and all state officers were elected by the voters of the state. The president judges gave way to circuit judges elected by the voters of each circuit, the old asso- ciate and probate judges being discontinued. But while the probate court
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
was abolished a new court-the common pleas court-was created by statute (May 12, 1852.) to take over the probate business and also some of the busi- ness formerly coming under the jurisdiction of the circuit court. This new court continued in operation until abolished by the Legislature with the act of May 6, 1873, all business over which it had had jurisdiction being transferred to the circuit court.
The act establishing the common pleas court divided the state into forty- four common pleas districts, Fayette county being united with Franklin and Union counties in one district. John S. Reid became the first judge of this district in 1852 and served by re-election until October 28, 1860. The act of March 1, 1859, redistricted the entire state for common pleas purposes, placing Fayette county in a district with Franklin, Union and Wayne. The district was not numbered by the act, but the succeeding Legislature ( March 1I, 1861) gave each district a number, the one containing Fayette county being No. 6. Jeremiah M. Wilson became judge of the enlarged district on October 28, 1860, and served until he resigned on March 6, 1865. John F. Kibbey was appointed to fill his unexpired term and was later elected, serving by re-election until the office was abolished by the act of May 6, 1873.
Each common pleas court had a special prosecutor with a two-year tenure. James R. McClure was the first prosecutor of the district to which Fayette county was attached, and served from 1852 to 1854. His successors were as follow: Joseph Marshall, 1854-1856; Nathaniel McCrookshank, 1856- 1858; Clement C. Cory, 1858-1860; John C. Whitridge, 1860-1864; Henry C. Fox, 1864-1868; William H: Jones, 1868-1870; John L. Rupe, 1870-1873.
REORGANIZATION OF THE STATE JUDICIARY.
The constitutional convention of 1850-51 had no more troublesome prob- lem before it than the reorganization of the state judiciary. As it was finally worked out, the Constitution provided that "The judicial power of the state shall be vested in a supreme court, in circuit court and in such other courts as the General Assembly may establish.". The one "other court" established in 1852 was the common pleas court, which has just been discussed. The Legis- lature, by the act of June 17, 1852, divided the state into ten judicial circuits, Fayette county being played in the fourth circuit with the counties of Dear- born, Franklin, Decatur, Shelby, Rush and Union. The next change in cir- cuiting was made by the act of May 5, 1869, which reorganized the fourth . circuit to include Fayette, Decatur and Rush counties. The act of April 22,
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
1869, had placed Union, Franklin, Dearborn and Ohio in the newly organized twenty-sixth circuit. The act of March 6, 1873, recircuited the entire state and united Fayette with Rush and Decatur counties in the eighth circuit. The next change was brought about by the act of March 2, 1883, this act leaving Rush and Decatur counties as the eighth circuit and uniting Fayette county with Franklin and Union counties in the thirty-seventh circuit. Franklin and Union counties had been constituted as the sole counties of the thirty- seventh circuit by the act of March 6, 1873. No change has been made in the thirty-seventh circuit since 1883.
CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES.
The first circuit judge elected for the circuit to which Fayette county was attached in 1852 was William M. McCarty, who ascended the bench on October 12, 1852, and served until he resigned on July 29, 1853. Will- iam S. Holman was at once- appointed to fill the vacancy, but he resigned on August 10, 1853, before holding a session of court in the county. Reuben D. Logan was then appointed and served by subsequent re-election until Octo- ber 12, 1865. He was followed by Jeremiah M. Wilson, who had resigned as common pleas judge of the district to make the race for the circuit judge- ship. Judge Wilson served a full term of six years, being followed on October 12, 1871, by William A. Cullen. During Judge Cullen's term the circuit was changed by the act of March 6, 1873, and he was transferred from the fourth to the eighth circuit. Judge Cullen was followed, October 24, 1877. by Samuel A. Bonner, but the act of March 2, 1883, transferred Bonner to the newly reorganized eighth (Rush and Decatur) circuit and Judge Ferdi- nand S. Swift to the newly reorganized thirty-seventh circuit ( Fayette, Frank- lin and Union). Judge Swift had been appointed judge of the thirty-sev- enth circuit on July 28, 1880, following the death of Judge Henry C. Hanna. Judge Swift was on the bench of the thirty-seventh circuit for twenty-four years, serving continuously from the time of his appointment until October 27, 1904. George L. Gray became judge of the circuit in 1904 and served two full terms, being followed by the present judge, Raymond S. Springer, on October 26, 1916.
'A NECESSARY EVIL."
The office of circuit prosecutor in Indiana has been subject to a large number of legislative acts. A lawyer under the 1816 Constitution once stated that the prosecuting attorney was a "necessary evil," and the difficulty that
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
the Legislature experienced in getting the office and its duties defined shows that there was a great divergence of views concerning the "evil." The Con- stitution of 1816, unlike its successor of 1852, made no provision for the office, and it was not until 1824 that the Legislature formally established the office. Prior to that date the president judge appointed a prosecutor for each term of court. The act of 1824 provided that the Legislature should elect a prose- cutor for each circuit, whose term of office was to be two years-the salary to be certain stipulated fees and such additional "compensation as the judges in their discretion may allow." No radical change was made in the method of election or matter of compensation until the act of February 11, 1843. This act placed the election of the prosecutors in the hands of the voters of each circuit, the tenure remaining two years, and the compensation continuing on a fee basis. Four years later (January 27, 1847,) the Legislature-appar- ently solely on political grounds-provided for a prosecutor for each county, again allowing the voters of the counties to fill the office. This act was so expensive that it aroused a storm of disapproval and the Legislature was forced (January 16, 1849,) to repeal it in part. Two circuits, the fourth and the eighth, were allowed by this act of 1849 to elect a prosecutor for their respective circuits. But continued dissatisfaction with the county prose- cutor led the Legislature (February 14, 1851), to return to the former method of allowing each circuit to elect one prosecutor, and the Constitution of 1852 (Sec. II. Art. VII,) embodied this method of providing for the office.
LIST OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.
The list of prosecutors for the circuit to which Fayette county has been attached since 1824. when the office was established, has been compiled from the records in the office of the secretary of state at Indianapolis. The list follows: Oliver H. Smith, August 9. 1824-resigned August 1, 1826; Amos Lane, appointed August 1, 1826-December 30, 1826; Cyrus Finch, December 30, 1826-December 30, 1828: Martin M. Ray, December 30, 1828- January 20, 1830; James Perry, January 25, 1830-January 25, 1832; Will- iam J. Brown, January 25, 1832-resigned December 10, 1836; Samuel W. Parker, December 10, 1836-December 10, 1838; David Macy, December 10, 1838-December 11, 1840; Jehu T. Elliott, December 11, 1840 -- resigned on January 23, 1844; Samuel E. Perkins, appointed on January 23, 1844-August 20, 1844; Jacob B. Julian, August 20, 1844-August 27, 1846; John B. Still, August 27, 1846-August 27, 1848 (from 1848 to 1851 each county in the circuit elected a prosecutor, Fayette county electing William S. Burrows,
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FAYETTE COUNTY, INDIANA.
who served from August 27, 1848, to August 18, 1851) ; Joshua H. Mellett, August 18, 1851-October 12, 1852 (the 1852 constitution went into opera- tion on October 12, 1852) ; Oscar B. Hord, October 12, 1852-resigned on November 2, 1854; William Patterson, November 2, 1854-resigned on Aug- ust 13, 1858; Sebastian Green, appointed on August 13, 1858-November 2, 1858; Henry C. Hanna, November 2, 1858-November 2, 1860; Milton H. Cullum, November 2, 1860-November 3, 1862; Samuel S. Harrell, Novem- ber 3, 1862-November 3, 1864; Creighton Dandy (or Daudy), November 3. 1864-November 3, 1866; Kendall M. Hord, November 3, 1866-Novem- ber 3, 1868; Platt Wicks, November 3, 1868-July 1, 1869; Alexander M. Campbell, appointed July 1, 1869-October 21, 1872; Elias R. Monfort, Octo- ber 21, 1872-March 6, 1873; Robert B. F. Pierce, March 6, 1873-October 26, 1874: Orlando B. Scobey, October 26, 1874-October 26, 1878; John L. Bracken, October 26, 1878-October 26, 1880: Richard A. Durnan, October 26, 1880-resigned January 22, 1881 ; Marine D. Tackett, appointed on Janu- ary 22, 1881-March 2, 1883; Leland H. Stanford, March 2, 1883-October 22, 1885; Lewis M. Develin, October 22, 1885-October 22, 1889; George W. Pigman, October 22, 1889-October 22, 1893; George L. Gray, October 22, 1893-October 22, 1895; F. M. Smith, October 22, 1895-October 22, 1897; George L. Gray, October 22, 1897-January 1, 1902; Frank E. Nevin, Janu- ary I, 1902-January 1, 1904; Robert E. Barnhart, January 1, 1904-January 1, 1908; Allen Wiles. January 1, 1908-January 1, 1910; Frank M. Edwards, January 1, 1910-January 1, 1916; James A. Clifton, January 1, 1916-Janu- ary 1; 1918; E. Ralph Himelich, January 1, 1918-January i, -1920.
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