USA > Indiana > Greene County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 59
USA > Indiana > Sullivan County > History of Greene and Sullivan Counties, State of Indiana > Part 59
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SAMUEL JUDAH.
Among the first lawyers that located in Sullivan County was the late Samuel Judah, who, not only on account of his early settlement there, but also because of his profound learning and eminent standing as a lawyer and jurist, is entitled to a place in the judicial history of the county. He was born in the city of New York in the year 1799. His parents were Samuel Bernard Judah and Miriam Hart Judah. They were Jewa, of English descent, but whose early ancestors came from Pro- tugal to England about two centuries before the American Revolution.
Samuel Judah was educated at Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J. He was very precocious, and graduated at the age of six- teen, after which he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1819. He determined to go West. Vincennes was then the city of the far West. On arriving there, he found Vincennes well peo- pled with lawyers, and thought it best to settle in a new town; so he went to Merom, then the county seat of Sullivan County.
HIS ARRIVAL IN SULLIVAN COUNTY.
Mr. Judah at this period was still quite young; he had but little or no money and great pride; and his earlier life had by no means fitted
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him for the hardships of the frontier. He was for some months sick with malaria, and solely dependent upon strangers for kind offices. That he appreciated the attention bestowed upon him by the then inhabitants of Carlisle, where he was at that time, is shown by the following extract from a letter written by him to a younger sister about this time, which is also valuable as a candid statement of the condition of society at thad time:
" MEROM, Ind., August 24, 1821. " MY DEAR SISTER :
" The sources of mental improvement are reading and therewith reflec- tion, and the society of well-informed people. Of the latter, the most important, I shall write first. In the society of well-informed people you may, by proper attention, acquire a very general knowledge of men and things Whenever I meet with a man who has traveled, either in Amer- . ica or the old world, I give particular attention to his conversation, from which I am able to judge of the truth and accuracy of books written on foreign countries, and also can soon discover whether the traveler is a man of discernment and observation or not.
" To me there is nothing so amusing as the conversation of men of general information and practical knowledge. During a three months' sickness last fall at Carlisle, a neighboring village, I should most cer- tainly have fretted myself to death had not the periods of intermission and the time of convalescence been relieved by exceedingly good company and books.
" Two young lawyers, two young doctors, one of whom had served in the Mediterranean, the other my friend McDonald, blessed with a fine mind, and possessed of much knowledge and very pleasant manners, an editor of a newspaper whose genius was only excelled by his lightness of heart, a gentleman who as a commission merchant had resided in many of the cities of continental Europe, a disbanded United States Major, absolutely the most pleasing and best-natured companion I ever met with, and two old sea captains who had been all over the world, formed an assemblage affording more pleasant amusement and enliven- ing conversation than I expected to find in the backwoods among ten per- sons laboring under the effects of sickness, at a season almost unex- ampled-strangers and assembled at the same place by chance. Capt. Wasson lived in Carlisle, and when the others were gone, in company with him or his books, I enjoyed much pleasure and spent the time pleasantly."
The latter part of the same letter is addressed to his mother in refer- ence to a proposition advanced by him that a younger brother should be sent out to Merom to grow up with the country. He says: " By this mail, my dear mamma, you and papa will receive a letter from me con- taining a few propositions concerning Edward. I would never have
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made these was I not certain that the result would be more beneficial to him than almost any other course you could mark out for him. Of the health of this country I am entirely satisfied, and a boy-so young as Ed- ward would very soon and without danger get seasoned to any olimate; but this is healthy and I have no fear on that account.
" The people here are very kind to strangers, and have been particu - larly so to me. The greatest difficulty will be in removing here. * * * If you could send him to Wheeling, I know a gentleman there who would either bring him here himself in the spring or send him by a steamboat (in perfect safety) to Louisville, where I am acquainted with some highly respectable gentlemen who would take care of him and send him in the stage (a ride of three days) to Vincennes. You, not as well accustomed to wandering as I am, think this a dreadful place for the conveyance of a boy of fifteen or sixteen. L, however, know it to be per- fectly feasible and destitute of danger, not half so madcap-like as my own excursion of ever-glorious memory hither."
HIS HOCIAL AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER.
Mr. Judah lived in Sullivan County about three years, and then re- moved to Vincennes, where he continued to reside till his death. Mr. Judah'was not only a good lawyer, but a very profound one. His prin- cipal characteristics in connection with the practice of his profession were industry, care and perseverance. His cases were always well and elaborately prepared, and when once convinced that he was in the right, he never ceased to prosecute his side of the case, so long as there was a court to appeal to. In arguing legal questions, he was not profuse in presenting authorities as general rule, but when more were demanded he always had them. He relied much on authorities, however. While liv- ing in Merom, on one occasion, the court seemed inclined to decide a Jegal proposition against him. The decision, however, was withheld till next morning. That night Mr. Judah rode on horseback from Merom to Vincennes and back, a distance of over sixty miles the entire trip, to get a book, and was on hand at the calling of the court next morning, with his authority, and gained his case. His name first appears in the Supreme Courts Reports, in the case of McIntosh et al. vs. Chew, et al .. 1 Blackf., 289, decided at the November term of the Supreme Court in the year 1823. He appeared as counsel in thirteen causes re- ported in 1 Blackf., which included appeals from the Knox, Daviess and Gibson Circuit Courts. The first cause ever appealed from the courts of Sullivan County was Eaton, Associate Judge, on the relation of Jesse Haddon and Henry Harper, against Benefiel et al., 2 Blackf., 52, in which Mr. Judah appeared for the plaintiff in error. This cause was decided at the May term, 1827, of the Supreme Court. Mr. Judah's rep. ntation as a lawyer was by no means local, or confined to the State of
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Indiana. At one time or another he was engaged in a number of impor- tant causes in the Supreme Court of the United States, involving large interests and grave legal questions. In the case of Ogilvie et al. vs. Knox Ins. Co., 16 Howard's U. S. Rep., he, for the first time, raised the question and established the doctrine of mandamus, to compel officials to levy and collect taxes to meet public debts. Mr. Judah was several times elected a member of the Legislature; was once Speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1840, he came within one vote of being elected United States Senator.
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
In 1843, the resident members of the bar of Sullivan County were Joseph W. Briggs, Hugh S. Ross, Thomas Marks, of Carlisle, and Andrew J. Thixton and James C. Allen, of Sullivan. Hugh Ross was a man of much natural ability, wonderful facility in the use of language, some- times brilliant, but he disliked books (that is, law books). Ross, it is said, could cite whole passages of law from memory that suited his side of the argument much better, and was far more decisive of the point in the issue than anything found in the books. When practicing before Jus- tices of the Peace his mind was very fertile in that direction, and to the unlearned it seemed the very depository of the law. He, however, lacked stability in purpose; he could not adhere to any one thing for any great length of time, consequently his life as a lawyer was a failure. More anecdotes have been told of Hugh S. Ross than any other attorney that ever practiced at the Sullivan bar.
Thomas Marks was a man of a good deal of force of character, but inclined to consult his prejudices rather than his deliberate judgment. He had obtained license to practice withont having read much law, and, not being a student, his career as a lawyer was a failure. Andrew J. Thixton was a well-read lawyer for one of his age. He evidently had been a close student, but lacked energy. He was easily discouraged. He lacked in will-power (in common parlance, backbone), but with proper surroundings he would have made a good lawyer had his life been spared. Grafton F. Cookerly located in Merom while the county seat still remained there, and made some progress in his profession, but on the re-location of the county seat at Sullivan, Mr. Cookerly removed to Terre Haute, where he still resides. No young man ever delighted more in having a good time and in using life while fresh, than Mr. Cookerly. Wherever he was there was life and jollity. He was always ready with a speech on any side of any question-anything to please the crowd.
James C. Allen was born in Kentucky in 1822, and in 1841 began the study of law, and in 1843 was licensed to practice. In August of that year he went to Merom, and in the following January to Sullivan,
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the new county seat, where he opened an office and practiced until 1845, when he was elected Prosecuting Attorney, and at the expiration of his term of office removed to Palestine, Ill. He was a man of fine natural ability, eminent in his profession, a critical observer, and occupied many positions of high responsibility. In 1850, he served in the Legislature; in 1852, was sent to Congress, and re-elected in 1854; in 1860. was de- feated for the Governorship of Illinois by Richard Yates; was elected Circuit Judge in 1861; was elected to Congress for the State at large in 1862; was a member of the State Constitutional Convention in 1870; was elected Circuit Judge in 1873, and Supreme Judge in 1874, aud is now practicing his profession at Olney, Ill.
Col. Francis L. Neff, for several years a practicing attorney at the Sullivan bar, was born in Boyle County, Ky., in the year 1831. He re- ceived such an education as was then afforded by the public schools of his neighborhood, and graduated in the year 1853. at Bloomington. Upon receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws, he at once opened an office and commenced the practice of the law in Danville, the county seat of Hendricks County. After practicing law about one year in Danville, he removed to and located in Sullivan County, and commenced the prac- tice of the law in partnership with his brother, Willis G. Neff. They very soon succeeded in gaining a good practice, which they followed up with much energy and industry. Col. F. L. Neff was elected Prosecut- ing Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, in the year 1857, which of- fice he very creditably filled for two years. Col. Neff was enjoying a lucrative practice in the law, with every reasonable prospect of its still improving, at the breaking-out of the rebellion. He, together with some others of the attorneys belonging to the Sullivan bar, were at the time in attendance at the term of the Circuit Court of Greene County, then in session. Col. Neff and his brother, Willis G. Neff, were stopping at what was then called the Eveleigh House; the other parties were at the Stropas House. The news of the surrender of Fort Sumter arrived at Bloom- field during the night of the 15th of April. Although Col. Neff was en. gaged as counsel in a number of cases that were expected to come np for trial during the term, he was up and out before daybreak on the morn. ing of the 16th, visiting the lodgings of the Sullivan members of the bar, and insisting that all must at once return home and enter upon the work of recruiting soldiers to put down the rebellion. It was finally agreed, however, that the two Neffs. who were not engaged in any causes set for trial on the 16th, nor till their clients would have time to employ other counsel, should proceed home at once, call a meeting of the citizens, and commence recruiting a company of volunteers, and the other attorneys to follow on the next day. This plan was carried out, but not with com- plete success on the first attempt.
The first meeting called together by Col. Neff and others on the
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night of April the 16th, was broken up. This resuit, however, only stimulated him and his friends to more determined work. Another meet- ing was called for the night of the 17th. This meeting was largely at- tended. Col. Neff made a most powerful appeal in behalf of the Gov- ernment. Volunteering commenced in earnest, and in a short time a full company was enrolled, which was tendered to the Government, and accepted and mustered into the United States service as Company I, Seventeenth Regiment Indiana Volunteer Infantry. On the organization of the company, he was elected First Lieutenant, and received his com- mission and was mustered into the United States service September 5, 1861. His company was incorporated into and formed Company D in the organization of the Thirty-first Regiment of Indiana Volunteer In- fantry. He was promoted Adjutant, Captain, Major and Lieutenant Colonel in rapid succession, and was in many important battles. He was killed near Kenesaw Mountain by a sharpshooter June 24, 1864, while sitting at the root of a tree reading a newspaper. His promotions were due to his bravery and gallant service. He knew no such thing as cow- ardice. He was beloved by his men and his fellow-officers; kind and affable to all, he always had a word of cheer and comfort for the sick and wounded of his command. His corpse was sent home, was met at the depot by a large crowd, and amid appropriate and touching ceremonies was conveyed to the cemetery and buried, a squad of his fellow-soldiers firing a volley over his grave.
THE LAST PROBATE COURT.
The last entry in the old Probate Court, which was an order continu- ing all the unfinished business of said court to the next term, was signed by William Alsop, the last of that race of officials, was dated August 1, 1852. Judge Alsop, although not a lawyer, made a very intelligent and upright Judge. In his decisions, he was governed by good sense, of which he had an abundance, and what seemed to be the equity of the case; his administration was entirely satisfactory to the people. The Probate Court was superseded, under the new constitution of 1852, by the Court of Common Pleas.
THE FIRST COMMON PLEAS COURT.
On the 12th day of October, 1852, Hon. William M. Franklin was. elected Common Pleas Judge for the district of which Sullivan County constituted a part, for a period of four years. He received his commis- sion on the 21st day of October of the same year. Judge Franklin then resided and still resides in Spencer, the county seat of Owen County. Mr. Franklin was a conscientious and honest man, with some considera- ble knowledge of the law. The court over which he was called to pre- side was an inferior one, of limited statutory jurisdiction; although a court of record, its common law jurisdiction was very narrow and cir-
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cumscribed, both in amount and subject matter. In consequence of these limitations, few causes came before the Common Pleas Court that elicited much interest. Judge Franklin was well adapted to preside in this court, and probably acquitted himself with more credit while Judge .*
Frederick T. Brown was the first District Prosecuting Attorney of the Common Pleas. He also resided in Spencer. Mr. Brown afterward was promoted by the people to the Common Pleas bench. He now lives in the city of Greencastle, and is engaged in the practice of the law. The first term of the Common Pleas Court convened in January, 1853. The following is the order adopting a seal for the court:
STATE OF INDIANA,
SULLIVAN COUNTY, 88.
I, Joseph W. Wolfe, Clork of the Court of Common Pleas in and for said county, certify that the following is an accurate and full description of the seal devised for the use of said court, together with the impression thereof, to wit: The words-"Common Pleas of Sullivan County, In- diana," with a female figure in the center, bearing the cap of liberty in her left hand, and her right hand placed on a shield. In testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand and affix the impression of said seal this 4th day of April, 1853. JOSEPH W. WOLFE,
Clerk, C. C. P. S. C.
PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER OF JOHN T. GUNN.
At the May term, 1853, the following persons were admitted to prac- tice as attorneys at law: Isham W. Allen, Henry D. Caldwell and Isaac F. Sexton. At the May term, 1854, Jobn T. Gunn was admitted to practice as an attorney at law. Mr. Gunn studied law in London, En- gland, and came to the United States about the year 1854, and located in Sullivan, where he continued the practice of the law till shortly be- fore his death, which occurred in 1884. Mr. Gunn was thoroughly founded in a knowledge of the law. He relied greatly upon authorities either in forming an opinion or tryinga cause. If there was any written law upon the question at all, Mr. Gunn never failed to find it. He col- Jected together a very fine law library of well-selected authors and re- ports. His manner of doing business was methodical, and everything was done with great care and precision, and with great promptness. He was a good lawyer. It was generally thought that Mr. Gunn was not a successful advocate; nevertheless he always made a strong logical argu- ment, and sometimes was brilliant.
In the case of Sherman against Coffman, which will be noticed here- after, Mr. Gunn, as counsel for the defendant, made one of the best and most eloquent arguments ever delivered in the Sullivan Court House. All of his best speeches were carefully prepared.
. He was afterward elected Circuit Judge, and is now a member of the Supreme Court Commission.
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In 1854, Oliver Ash, of Bowling Green, Clay County, was elected Dis- trict Prosecuting Attorney, and served two years. Israel W. Booth, of Sullivan, acted as his Deputy. At the August term, 1855, Henry L. Cawthorn was admitted to practice as an attorney in the Court of Common Pleas. At the June term, 1856, Sewell Coulson was admitted to practice as an attorney in the Common Pleas Court. Frederick T. Brown, the former Common Pleas Prosecuting Attorney, was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas on the 10th of October, 1856, and received his commission on the 28th of the same month. Judge Brown, by nature, was not constituted for a Judge, even of the Court of Common Pleas. He lacked in dignity and was extremely irritable, and before the expira- tion of his term, he became very unpopular in Sullivan County at least.
The Legislature of 1859 created a new Common Pleas district, com. posed of the counties of Sullivan, Vigo, Parke and Vermilion. Chambers Y. Patterson, of Vigo County, was elected Judge at the regular election in October, 1859.
From the time the new district was formed until the election of Judge Patterson, Judge Jones, of Terre Haute, was the Judge of the new district.
CHARACTER OF' JUDGE PATTERSON.
Judge Patterson received his commission October 29, 1860. He has already been spoken of as Judge of the Circuit Court. It is not the province of a history like this to discuss the propriety of constitutional provisions or the wisdom of legislative enactments, but only to record events as they have occurred. Judge Patterson was a Democrat, though quite moderate and temperate in his views, and consequently had many friends in the Republican party, who supported him whenever he sought official position. He was not a close student of the law, and consequent- ly his knowledge of the law acquired from books was limited. He pos- Besned a good judicial mind, and gave close attention to the evidence in canses tried before him, and decided according to the natural equity or the right of the case. In all cases involving fraud, he was peculiarly apt in outlining the transaction long before the parties had closed their evidence. After hearing the evidence upon the principal features of the alleged fraud, he seemed intuitively to anticipate the minutia. He trans- acted business rapidly and impartially. His decisions stood the test in the Supreme Court far above the average of Judges.
CHARACTER OF JUDGE MAXWELL.
In 1864, Hou. Samuel F. Maxwell, of Rockville, Parke County, was elected Common Pleas Judge, and James T. Johnson was elected Dis- trict Prosecuting Attorney. Judge Maxwell was put in nomination and elected by the Republicans; he received his commission October 31, 1864, and served four years. Judge Maxwell possessed a good judicial
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mind, thoroughly trained by reading and study in the elements of the law. He was cool and deliberate in all of his proceedings in court. Few Judges in the State of Indiana have been so fortunate as Maxwell in their decisions. His judgments were seldom reversed on appeal.
Judge Maxwell was succeeded by Hon. John T. Scott, who received his commission November 2, 1860, and continued on the bench until the abolition of the court in 1873. Judge Scott was appointed to the Supreme bench by Gov. Williams, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Perkins, and served until the next general election, when he was defested by Judge Elliott. Judge Scott was very popular with the members of the bar, on account of his uniform kindness and the great patience with which he tried causes. As long as the parties had anything to present in their cages, Judge Scott patiently listened to both evidence and argument. During his term of office as Judge, the only cause that excited any considerable public interest ever tried in the Common Pleas Court of Sullivan County was disposed of. This was an action brought by Jesse Sherman against Stewart S. Coffman for mal-practice. The facts of the case are as follows:
THE SHERMAN-COFFMAN MAL-PRACTICE SUIT.
The plaintif, Sherman, fell from the second story of Mr. Alexander . Snow's warehouse to the floor in the first story. In falling, his thigh struck a scantling two inches thick by four inches wide, causing a fracture of the lower third of the femur. The defendant was a physician and surgeon, then practicing in the town of .Sullivan, and was called upon to adjust said fracture, and to treat plaintiff therefor. From some cause, the fractured bone did not readily unite, which required plaintiff to remain in bed for several months. In adjusting the fracture, which was compound and comminuted, the defendant applied the Liston splint, fastening the foot of the injured leg to the foot of the splint by a figure- of eight bandage; the extension was procured and sought to be main. tained in the usual way. The plaintiff's constitution was sluggish, with- out much recuperative powers, and finally sores appeared upon the instep and over the tendon Achilles. These the plaintiff attributed to the mal- practice of the defendant, and were made the foundation of his action. The plaintiff was represented by Messrs. N. G. Buff, E. E. Rose, of Bloomfield, and Calvin Taylor. The defendant was represented by Sewell Coulson, John T. Gunn and Samuel R. Hamill. The plaintiff procured the evidence of a number of expert witnesses, professors of sur- gery in the Chicago medical schools, to show that, in their opinion, the defendant's treatment of the fractured limb was censurable, and not justi- fied by the most recent experience of the profession. He also had Prof. Commingon present, as well as some other surgeons of note from a dis- tance. The only expert witness employed by the defendant, outside of
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the county, and really the only one needed by the defendant, was the late Dr. Ezra Reed, of Terre Haute, a man of great learning, added to a broad and deep philosophizing mind. It would occupy too much space to give an outline of the facts proven and the opinions of the experts upon those facts. It would only further tend to establish the fact that if surgery is a science, many of those who pretend to practice the profession have failed to comprehend it, as scarcely any two of the witnesses exam- ined as experts agreed as to the proper treatment of the plaintiff's case. Some professional men, who, as expert witnesses, attempted to criticise the conduct of the defendant in the treatment of plaintiff's broken leg, exhibited the most profound ignorance, and made the most ludicrous and laughable statements that were ever detailed in a court of justice. The arguments, by agreement between the attorneys, were to have been made in the following order: E. E. Rose to open for plaintiff, followed by S. R. Hamill, for the defendant; then N. G. Buff, for the plaintiff, followed by John T. Gunn, for the defendant; Calvin Taylor, for the plaintiff, followed by Sewell Coulson, for the defendant, and E. E. Rose to close.
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