USA > Indiana > Howard County > History of Howard County, Indiana, Vol I > Part 28
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General R. H. Milroy, the third judge of Howard county, was a very brave man and a high-toned gentleman, incapable of a wrong or mean act. He often did things that he afterwards regretted, was a very impulsive man and was not a thoroughly trained lawyer. A military man, pure and simple, his whole manner was military and his pride ran in that direction. At the bar he had had but an imperfect experience. While upon the bench he was upon a severe strain and made many mistakes. He was glad to get rid of his office because he felt that the law was not his forte. No one ever learned better than he from painful experience that law as a science and a system must be understood as a whole and that patch work is not sufficient. Very modest, he distrusted his own knowledge, and did not feel himself equal to his position. His administration did not give satisfaction. Love, respect and admiration were due him, but his chief trait was military and his courage extended even to rashness. He was one of the very strictest of disciplinarians. His men loved and feared him and would follow him anywhere. A glance at his portrait, with its stern, piercing eyes and firm-set lips, revealed his determination and inexorable will.
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JUDGE MILROY'S ONLY TERM.
The November term of 1852 was the first, last, and only term of court held by Judge Milroy in Howard county.
At this period the circuit court acquired a migratory charac- ter. The May term, 1854, was held in the Methodist church, a frame structure which stood upon West Mulberry street.
At this term, Samuel Wilson, a notable character of Kokomo, was tried for assault with intent to kill and acquitted. While intoxi- cated, and being a Kentuckian, he had chased a negro through a cornfield with a shotgun.
At this date the old log courthouse was no more. It was inadequate and had been torn down. It was ordered, on the 2d day of June, 1852, by the county commissioners, that Corydon Rich- mond, Austin C. Sheets and Charles D. Murray be appointed to prepare specifications for the erection and furnishing of offices for the clerk, auditor, recorder and treasurer. Two buildings were to be erected, each to be constructed of brick and to be eighteen feet by thirty-six feet in dimension. Their aggregate cost was to be not more than one thousand dollars, and were to be so located as to leave space between them for a courthouse, the present one. One of the buildings was erected near the northeast corner of the court- house yard and occupied by the auditor and treasurer; the other was located on the opposite corner west and was used by the recorder and clerk.
For a season court was held in one of these buildings, but the quarters were too small, and the James & Armstrong, and later the Wildman halls were utilized for judicial hearings.
March, 1853, the materials of the log courthouse were ordered sold, but instead they were used for a walk in the courthouse yard.
The fourth judge of Howard county was John U. Pettit, of
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Wabash. He was a man of striking personal characteristics and eccentricities. He was a graduate of Columbia College and a class- mate of Robert Toombs, of Georgia, "the great Southern fire-eater and slavery advocate." He was a small, spare man, of about the average height, active and graceful in movement, fluent in speech, exceedingly polite, firm and determined, a good wit, a thorough scholar and a highly polished gentleman.
The fifth judge of Howard county was John M. Wallace, of Marion. This jurist was popularly spoken of as the "ready" judge. He transacted while upon the bench a large amount of business, with the utmost ease and rapidity. He was not noted for his pro- found thought, or research, but was a very ready speaker. In per- sonal appearance Judge Wallace was a handsome man, with coal- black hair and eyes, unusually large chest and head. His dress was very tasty for the time in which he lived. He was born in Frank- lin county, this state, and was a brother of Governor Wallace and an uncle of General Lew Wallace. His father was a tavern keeper in eastern Indiana. Judge Wallace died a poor man.
Judge Brouse and Wallace were intimate friends. Wallace, after deciding a case against Brouse, laughingly remarked to him, "Well, Brouse, I don't suppose you feel quite as good as you did before I made that decision."
"You know well enough that you made an old ass of yourself, Judge Wallace," retorted Brouse with affected anger.
This touched Wallace deeply, who, supposing that he had really given offense, said sympathetically, "Come now, Brouse; you are not going to strike down an old friend, are you?"
"Well, I guess not by any means," responded Brouse with a smile.
This assurance relieved Wallace from a dread apprehension. He would not intentionally give offense, or wound another's feel-
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OF HOWARD COUNTY.
ings for any consideration. Yet under no circumstances would he permit motives of friendship to dictate his judgment. He was con- scientious and honest to the extreme.
A DR. JEKYL AND MR. HYDE.
Wallace, the judge, and Wallace, the citizen, were two different characters. The one character was stern, harshly indifferent, rigid in severity and of unbending dignity. When trying a case his fea- tures were seemingly as inflexible as those of a Roman senator. The procedure of his court was conducted with the strictest dis- cipline. Order and monotonous regularity prevailed. No slave- master ever exerted a firmer control over his bondsmen than did Judge Wallace over his associates in the administration of justice. When Wallace thought an attorney had said enough to enable him to understand a subject he instantly told that attorney so, and shut off his speech. Wallace always ran court to suit himself.
Anybody could laugh and joke with him in private social inter- course. Then he was good-natured, jolly and sympathetic, and ready for any kind of innocent fun that came along. Of nights it was his favorite amusement to play his violin to the loungers at the hotel and he would nearly shake himself to pieces with laughter as he saw some "greeny" trying to execute a clever imitation of any kind of dancing. Nothing seemed to gratify him more than to see some nimble fellow beat the floor into splinters with his feet, or hear some extra good joke.
Henry A. Brouse, whose name, before his death, headed the list of Howard county practitioners as being the oldest of the num- ber at the bar, came to Howard county from Wayne county when the town of Kokomo did not contain more than fifty log cabins. He settled upon a farm south of the city. There were in the town
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three resident lawyers and three stores of general merchandise ; those of T. J. Faulkner, John Bohan and C. J. Allison, the latter a "wet- back" grocery. Wearing high-top boots Brouse trudged to town three times a day. His office furniture consisted of a few rickety chairs, a dilapidated table, and a library worth less than three hun- dred dollars. In writing he made use of quill pens.
Along in the fifties his practice was large and he had about all the legal business to which he could well attend. When court was in session, in order to get his cases at issue he would have his clients sleep at his office and would work all night getting the pleadings in shape, awakening his clients one by one for information as he finished one paper and went on to the next. Brouse tried his first case in the county before Judge Biddle. Brouse was one of the prime movers in the organization of the Republican party here, and mainly instrumental in securing the election of Nelson Purdum as the first mayor of the city, and subscribed largely for the construction of the normal school building.
A COURTEOUS JUDGE.
During the morning hours, or those of early afternoon, Judge Pettit greeted an acquaintance in a most complaisant voice and pleasing and courteous manner in substantially this language: "Oh, John," or James, as the case might be, "now I am real glad to see you. How are you? I was just thinking about you a moment since. How is your family now, anyway?" But after four o'clock in the afternoon his form of salutation, expressed with a deferential bow, but with a slight and graceful wave of the right hand, was almost invariably : "Good evening! Good evening!" When at his meals he would eat a while, stop and converse with whoever chanced to be present in the room and then fall to again. Purchasing a fine
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pair of trousers, Pettit has been known to offset these with a cheap, shoddy hat, without any band, and he would encase the neat and dainty foot of which he was possessed in a stoga, heavy-sewed shoe. But T. C. Philips, one of his great admirers, once declared that Judge Pettit, as congressman, "was not the same Pettit that he was in mingling with his constituents." "Why," said Philips, "when I saw him at the National capital he was as tastefully dressed as Charles Sumner, which is saying a good deal. When I saw him after the National legislature had adjourned he looked as seedy as a man without a dollar."
Pettit hated with his whole soul and his enmity was bitter, intense, and uncompromising. He seemingly, when aroused, feared no man and would, if he lost his control, jump upon a man twice his size. One of the judicial campaigns in which he was successful was extremely personal and malignant. As he was riding along, one day after the election was over, in his buggy, he saw coming down the street his defeated opponent. Perceiving a good oppor- tunity to tell him in direct language what he thought of his man- ner of campaigning, Pettit squared his vehicle around so that his former rival could not pass and then proceeded to say, to the object of his contempt : "I am that dirty, lousy, and unscrupulous John U. Pettit that you told the people so much about lately ! Good day, sir!"
A witness for whom Pettit had the most profound contempt testified against his client in a suit in which he was engaged as an attorney. Later on in the progress of the trial it became necessary to recall this witness to testify to additional matter. Pettit arose, made a sligh bow, and in those cutting and sarcastic tones which he could use with such scathing effect, remarked : "The honest and virtuous gentleman may again take the witness stand and proceed to perjure himself a little more." Pettit's repartee was like a dag- ger thrust.
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A witness that Pettit believed had lied in his evidence once pressed the judge to drink with him. "If for no other reason," said Pettit, "I'll not drink with you, because you are an infamous liar. And I'll thank you, sir, I don't wish to drink with a liar." He was not afraid to say to a man's face what he thought of him.
He instantly adjourned court once because the spectators rushed to the windows to see a passing circus procession.
A FINISHED ORATOR.
The oratorical powers of Pettit were of a high standard. In delivery he was rather deliberate. Many of his finest addresses were purely extemporaneous. The language of which he made use in the exposition and elaboration of a subject was the best that could be chosen. His words, selected with faultless judgment, carried home the idea to the mind of his auditor with a force that made a deep impression.
C. C. Shirley, who once heard Judge Pettit speak at a con- gressional convention, describes his manner of delivery as "very precise, smooth and oily, and apparently of studied suavity ; exhibit- ing the fact that he had a rare command of the best and choicest English."
Pettit stood high in his profession and in the trial of his cases he demonstrated his thoroughness, masterly skill, chained logic, keen analysis, correct judgment, shrewdness, and ability to fetter an opponent. He was naturally a diplomat.
An appeal case in which the plaintiff sought the recovery of damages for some sheep killed by several dogs was tried before him in the old Methodist Episcopal church.
The plaintiff was represented in court by N. R. Linsday and C. D. Murray, who did the bulk of the earliest legal practice in the
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county, and practically had a cinch on the practice. One of the principal attorneys of a somewhat later day, Henry A. Brouse, rep- resented the defendant. Case called for trial. Judge Pettit ready to hear the evidence. The testimony of the plaintiff is soon pro- duced and he rests. Inquiry by the court of Brouse whether he has any evidence. "None," replies that lawyer. "What?" gasps Brouse's client, "hain't you goin' to put in any evidence? That's what I hired you for." Observation by the court. "Mr. Brouse, can't you manage to keep that boisterous client of yours still?" Mr. Brouse looked daggers at his client, who blurted out: "That's all right, Mr. Brouse, you needn't look cross-eyed at me. If you hain't a-goin' to tell this here court some evidence on my side of this here case, I quit right away. There's more'n one lawyer in this town besides you." This remark finished, the court observes: "It is with pain that I again call attention to this matter. I repeat, will you, Mr. Brouse, cblige the court by keeping that boisterous client of yours still? If not, I shall fine you both." "I'll try, sir," answered Brouse, who knew Pettit's nature too well to risk any display of defiance. "I'll try, sir." Brouse then hastily whispered to his cli- ent in husky tones to keep still, for heaven's sake; that no evidence was needed, and that he could beat the plaintiff without any. "The court finds," said Pettit, as he picked up his pen and began writing, "for the plaintiff and ---- "
"One moment, your Honor," said Brouse, as he arose to address the court. "I have a few points to-"
"Sit down, Mr. Brouse," said the court, sternly. Brouse obeyed, as he knew it was not good policy to do otherwise.
"I have, your Honor, some-" said Brouse, as he arose again. "Sit down," said Pettit. Brouse sat down.
Wiping the perspiration from his brow he at once arose. "Sit down," said Pettit. Brouse sat down.
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After he had written a few lines Pettit asked of Brouse, "Have you any authorities to present ?"
"Yes, sir," replied the latter, choking with eagerness. "I dis- closed on cross-examination that the dogs belonged-"
"That will do. Sit down, Mr. Brouse," said Pettit. Brouse sat down. "You refer to that elementary principle of law that a man is to be held responsible only for the damage done by his own property. The proof in this case does not disclose the amount of damage done by each dog. The court finds for the defendant and-"
"Your Honor-" said Linsday, arising.
"Sit down, Mr. Linsday," said Pettit. Linsday sat down and. arising again, said : . .
"But-"
"Enough," said Pettit. "The finding is for the defendant. Sit down." Mr. Lindsay sat down.
The mind of Pettit was keen and incisive, as subtle as that of a sophist, enabling him to draw fine-spun distinctions. From the slightest hint he grasped a point in its remotest connections. The movements of his mind were swift, as straight to the mark as an arrow.
WHEN SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE.
When speaker of the house of state representatives during the war period he displayed great nerve and incorruptible patriotism. Among the offices held by him were consul to Brazil, judge of the eighth and twenty-seventh judicial districts and congressman for three terms.
James W. Robinson was a singular character. He read much, but studied little. But he had a smattering of a large number of subjects. Incessantly he bluffed and blustered. With witnesses,
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the attorneys, and the court .he would wrangle by the hour. Sar- casms, rebuffs, or reprimands did not abash him in the least, and he persisted in continuing in the same course of conduct confident, to all appearances, in the correctness of his position. Speaking for a defendant accused of larceny he exclaimed : "I tell you, gentle- men, these are the same, identical verbatim boots that my client bought in Cambridge City." In a case wherein he urged an alibi as a defense he said : "Gentlemen, how can you, in the light of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, convict my client here? It would be preposterous to convict him when he has already proven an albino." Once again: "Gentlemen of the jury, I want to tell you that Nat Linsday and Hen Brouse, who appear against me, are two of the biggest wind-bags in the United States. They don't know any law. Neither does the judge in this case. But I know the law perfectly well and just as it is. Listen, I will give you the law. It is this. Now don't pay any attention to what Linsday or the judge says, but follow the law as I have given it and you are on the right side. There can be no doubt, gentlemen, but what you will give my client a verdict." Going into the auditor's office one day, Robinson said: "You have got me taxed up here with some land that I never owned."
"I hope not, Mr. Robinson," was the reply.
"But I know you have. I never owned an acre and fifty- hundredths in my life."
GOOD AT REPARTEE.
After searching the records carefully the auditor said: "I find these against you, Mr. Robinson. They show you to be the owner of an acre and a half of land."
"An acre and a half! Well, that will do. But I repeat, I never owned an acre and fifty-hundredths in all my life."
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"You may state your name to the jury," said Robinson to the only witness by whom he hoped to prove a case of slander.
"John Joybreaker."
"Are you acquainted with the parties in this suit?"
"I don't remember."
"Don't you know the plaintiff in this action ?"
"I don't remember."
"Do you know the defendant?"
"I don't remember."
"Don't you know that he called the defendant a --- and slan- dered him in this manner, by saying the following language?"
"I don't remember."
"Did you eat your dinner ?"
"I don't remember."
"Didn't you run off as soon as you were subpoenaed in this case ?"
"I don't remember."
"Weren't you put in jail?"
"I don't remember."
Parsons on Contracts has, for years, been a standard authority in this country. But Robinson, on one occasion, didn't think so. Joe D. Johnson vs. James W. Robinson. Case in bailment. Trial upon an agreed state of facts. Johnson reads to the court from Parsons on Contracts.
"What are you reading from?" inquired Robinson.
"I am reading from Parsons on Contracts."
"Great God!" exclaimed Robinson, throwing up both hands in horror. "Have you come out here to pull the wool over the eyes of the court, by reading Parsons on Contracts? Parsons is English law. It was written in England over five hundred years ago! It is British law!"
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OF HOWARD COUNTY.
"On the contrary," said Johnson, "I know better. Parsons is the very best authority upon this subject that we are discussing. It is as much American law as the statutes of this state. To say that Parsons is not American law is to talk utter nonsense. The pass- ages which I have read are directly in point." Johnson continued his reading after the delivery of his remarks, but was again inter- rupted by Robinson, who inquired of the court:
"And will you, sir, allow the gentleman to persist in reading British law?"
The justice answered: "You may stop reading, Mr. Johnson. I do not believe that your authority has any reference to this case." So Johnson stopped.
CAN'T PREDICATE WHAT A JURY WILL DO.
But very few lawyers, however, have gainsaid the truth of what Robinson once said : "Nobody but God Almighty knows what a jury will do." A colored man was once defended by Robinson before John W. Cooper, then mayor of the city. Judicially speak- ing, Robinson's client, when sentence was rendered, received a "black eye" from the court. "By-" said the prisoner, as he was being conducted to jail, "if Robinson would have talked much more, I would have been sent to the penitentiary."
J. D. Johnson was a young man of considerable brilliancy and had more than ordinary talent. Had he lived he would have "made his mark." He was a good talker, had a good voice, used good language, and presented ably his thought. He did not live long enough to fully mature and develop his powers, but demonstrated to a certainty the fact that he possessed the requisite qualifications to have made a most effective practitioner. Untimely death, how- ever, cut off his hopes in the flower of his youth. His nature was ardent, ambitious, and aspiring.
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Nelson Purdum, an early attorney at the bar and first mayor of the city, was a practical lawyer. He detested buncombe, rant and bombast. Hating superficiality he was never guilty of soaring above the heads of a jury. In civil law he was most proficient and it was there that he was in his element. He was a man of good, hard sense, strong in conviction, clever-hearted, industrious and successful in practice. Being clear, simple and comprehensive in statement he generally had little difficulty in persuading the twelve judges of fact to adopt his view of the case.
A GOOD COLLECTION LAWYER.
Joe Lewis had the reputation of being one of the best collec- tion lawyers in northern Indiana. If anybody could extract blood from a stone or turnip he was the man. When enforcing the pay- ments of collections he never desisted from tormenting debtors and stretching them upon the rack until his demands were fully satis- fied. It would have been him exactly to order out an execution at midnight and to compel the sheriff to levy upon all property in- stantly. He was nervous in writing, in speech, in everything. He would study night and day. Often in his cogitations, when a young man, he would abstract the contents of a book which he held in his hand, while he leisurely walked back and forth. He was bitter in his dislikes and scrupulously tasty in his dress.
Rawson Vaile, more than any other member of the bar, would explore and dive into the depths of old records, minutely and crit- ically examining every mouldy paper buried beneath the dust of the years. It used to be the common remarks of attorneys when they would see him in the county offices : "Well, there is Brother Vaile, again, going into antiquity to see what he can discover." Fiery energy was one of his characteristics. He always walked as if he
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OF HOWARD COUNTY.
was in a desperate hurry, and had only a second of time in which to accomplish a certain act. He moved forward with an impetu- osity that threatened his dismemberment. He was of unquestioned rectitude and probity. About the truth he was extremely scrupu- lous. He would never mislead a client, but would tell him the law as he thought it to be, whether for or against his client's interest. Vaile was tenacious in the advocacy of a proposition. There was no foolishness about him, and he was little inclined to a joke. His strongest tastes were not for the law. At one time in life he was actively engaged in the duties of journalism. He published the Free Territory Sentinel and was one of the editors of the Indian- apolis Journal.
WHEN MILTON GARRIGUS CAME.
In February, 1847. Milton Garrigus came to Howard county, being a native of Wayne county, Indiana. Many of the relics of the Indians were still strewn over the grounds, situated in the vicin- ity of Greentown, upon which Garrigus passed his first night, in company with his father and brother under a rude covering of logs hastily thrown together and warmed by a blazing fire burning im- mediately in front. Pheasant was the sole dish upon which he made his first meal in this, the Miami reserve. Garrigus farmed the land spoken of for some time, roughing it in true pioneer style, and doing his own cooking. Wild turkey ranged not far from his door. Squir- rels by the legion scampered up and down the trees of the adjacent forest, which stretched away for miles unbroken, and was inhabited by wildcats, polecats, mink and muskrats.
While postmaster at Greentown Captain Garrigus studied law. Trials were held in the postoffice. The Captain borrowed his books of Lindsay & Murray.
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CARRIE NATION'S HUSBAND.
David Nation, famous as the divorced husband of Carrie Na- tion, the Kansas temperance cyclone, was once a lawyer in Howard county, and prosecuted a case in the old Methodist church in the fifties. A gunsmith of Jerome was accused of setting fire to the barn of Harvey Brown, of that place. Wood had been piled against one side of the structure and the flames started. Nation was a very vigorous and capable prosecuting attorney. He was opposed by Captain Garrigus and Joshua Mellett, a noted cross-examiner, who represented the defendant. It was during the trial that William Branhouse realized the full power of Mellett's ability and as he un- derwent the ordeal the perspiration rolled down his face in streams. The defendant was acquitted because he deserved to be under the evidence, but under Nation's prosecution he had the call of his life. Judge Buckles, of Muncie, was on the bench and Nation then lived in the same city. Kokomo and Muncie belonged to the same judi- cial circuit. It was the custom for the judge and the prosecutor to travel the circuit together, and that is how Nation came to appear in the trial in Kokomo that year.
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