USA > Indiana > Huntington County > History of Huntington County, Indiana : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
289
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
him as "a man of great benevolence, to the great detriment of success, was impulsive, strong in his likes and dislikes, but charitable and for- giving, always ready to do more for his friends than for himself." Mr. DeLong was quite a military man, and entered the Union army at the breaking out of the Civil war as first lieutenant, Company F, Thirteenth Indiana Infantry.
John R. Coffroth came to Huntington from Chambersburg, Penn- sylvania, in 1849, and was admitted to the bar soon after his arrival. He was then a young man, and upon the death of John S. Hendrix was appointed prosecuting attorney. Endowed with great energy,
LAMBDIN P. MILLIGAN
quick perception and retentive memory, he soon became a formidable lawyer. In 1870 he removed to Lafayette, where he practiced with great success until his death.
Lambdin P. Milligan was a native of Belmont County, Ohio, studied law in his native state and practiced at St. Clairsville for some time before locating at Huntington in January, 1853. He had come to Huntington County about eight years before, but had lived upon a farm for the purpose of regaining his health. After his admission te the bar of the county he rapidly rose to a position as one of the fore- most lawyers of Northern Indiana. He was frequently associated with Vol. I-19
290
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
Mr. Coffroth in the conduct of cases, and together they were recognized as two of the state's eminent attorneys.
Two years before Mr. Milligan began practice in Huntington, David O. Bailey located at the town and afterward became identified with the legal affairs of the county. He was a native Hoosier and a brother of Rev. William Dailey, at one time chaplain of Congress. David O. Bailey was an eloquent speaker, energetic in behalf of his clients and won a high standing as a lawyer. His physical constitution was not equal to the demands of his ambition, and he died a victim of nervous prostration, brought on by overwork, June 7, 1867, when it was believed that the most brilliant and successful part of his career yet awaited him.
Thomas Roche, another well-known Huntington County lawyer in his day, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, April 2, 1830, and came with his parents to America the same year. In 1834 the family settled at Huntington, about the time that town was selected as the county seat. After attending a business college at Cincinnati, Ohio, he began his business career as clerk in a general store. Later he went to Attica, Indiana, where he remained for about two years as clerk in a store and bookkeeper in a bank. In August, 1855, he returned to Huntington and was made cashier of the newly organized Huntington County Bank. In 1859 he joined a party of gold seekers and went to Colorado, but again came back to Huntington and entered the law office of John R. Coffroth as a student. In February, 1862, he was admitted to the bar, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession. From 1870 to 1877 he was a member of the firm of Moffit & Roche in the operation of a foundry, but after the latter year gave his entire time to the law. He had the reputation of being one of the best legal advisers of the Huntington County bar, and at one time was prosecuting attorney.
William H. Trammel, who is still well remembered by the people of Huntington, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, June 12, 1835. In April, 1856, the family located in Jefferson Township, Huntington County, and four years later young Trammel became interested in the mercantile business in the Town of Warren. In February, 1861, he was appointed deputy sheriff, but the following October resigned his position to enter the army as a private in the Forty-seventh Indiana Infantry. On June 4, 1862, he received an honorable discharge, re- turned to Huntington and took up the study of law. He was admitted early in the year 1863, and soon came to occupy a high standing among the members of the profession in the county. Mr. Trammel was a republican, and in 1872 was a delegate to the national convention of his party at Philadelphia.
291
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
James B. Kenner, who was a soldier as well as attorney, was born in Washington County, Maryland, November 5, 1846. In 1856 his parents removed to Huntington County, Indiana, and settled in Jack- son Township. Mr. Kenner attended the Roanoke Seminary after his service as private in the One Hundred and Forty-second Indiana In- fantry in the Civil war, and in 1868 began the study of law under Judge Henry B. Sayler. In March, 1871, he was graduated in the law depart- ment of the Indiana University and the following month was admitted to the bar. He quickly rose to prominence in his profession and built up a lucrative practice. In 1880 he was elected to the lower house of the Indiana Legislature, and while a member of that body served on some of the most important committees. In 1883 he became the editor and part owner of the Indiana Herald, published at Huntington, and his work as a journalist was equally as good as his work as a lawyer. He joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in 1876 and became one of the prominent members of that order in Indiana, being honored by an election to the office of grand master in 1885. During the Spanish- American war he was a paymaster in the United States army. An account of his services in this capacity will be found in the chapter on Military History .-
John I. Dille, for several years a partner of Major Kenner, was born in Polk Township, Huntington County, November 18, 1857. His par- ents, Ichabod and Rebecca (Havens) Dille, natives of Ohio, were among the early settlers of that township. Mr. Dille began teaching when he was but fifteen years of age, and taught three terms in all. He was educated at the Northern Indiana Normal School (now the Valparaiso University), and in 1877 was graduated in the law department of the State University at Bloomington. Soon after his graduation he formed a partnership with James B. Kenner, and the firm became known as one of the best in Northeastern Indiana. Mr. Dille always had a whole- some respect for his profession and would never advise a client to go to law unless he had a just cause for action. Courteous and dignified, he occupied a high place among the lawyers of Huntington County. Pres- ident Harrison appointed him registrar of the land office at Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he remained for several years. He then went to Des Moines, Iowa, as counsel for a railroad company, and while there became dean of the law department of the university. Later he removed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to accept a position as counsel for one of the great railway systems of the Northwest, and still resides in that city.
James M. Hatfield, a native of Henry County, Indiana, was born February 2, 1849. He received a common school education while a boy on the farm, afterward attending the seminary at Roanoke, and
292
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
then spent three years as a student in Hillsdalle College. In 1872, lie was elected surveyor of Huntington County, and about the same time took up the study of law. At the conclusion of his term as surveyor he began active practice, and soon made a name for himself as an attor- ney. For five years he was a trustee and secretary of Roanoke Semi- nary and was a writer on the Indiana Herald, in connection with his law practice. Mr. Hatfield was a prominent Knight of Pythias, and in 1895 was grand chancellor of that order for Indiana.
Maurice L. Spencer, a member of one of the pioneer families of Huntington County, was born in Wayne County, Indiana, March 6, 1843, of good Quaker stock, some of his ancestors having come from England and settled in Pennsylvania in 1689. In 1844 his parents removed to Dallas Township, Huntington County, where Maurice at- tended the common schools and afterward was a student in the Roanoke Seminary. In March, 1865, he enlisted for service in the Union army, but the war closed before he had an opportunity to take an active part in military affairs. In 1871 he was appointed county examiner of schools, and was the first county superintendent under the law of 1873. He resigned this office in the spring of 1874 to enter upon the study of law, and in October, 1876, was admitted to the bar. He was a careful, painstaking lawyer, always alert as to the interests of his clients, and while not especially brilliant, won a majority of his cases. His son, H. B. Spencer, is now a member of the Huntington County bar.
J. Fred France, the present clerk of the Indiana Supreme Court, was for many years a practicing attorney in Huntington County, and is recognized as one of the democratic leaders in the Upper Wabash valley. He was at one time mayor of the City of Huntington, and has been connected with some of the most important cases ever tried in the Circuit Court of the county. In 1912 he was elected clerk of the Su- preme Court on the democratic ticket, and in 1914 was nominated by the state convention of his party for a second term.
It is impossible to give personal mention to every attorney that has ever practiced in the Huntington County courts, but from the foregoing sketches of judges and lawyers the reader can gain a fair knowledge of the type of men who have conducted the legal business of the county since its organization. Quite a number of the members of the Hunt- ington County bar, both past and present, have practiced in the higher courts of the state and the United States Courts, and have held their own against some of the best legal talent of the country.
Several years ago some of the attorneys of the county undertook to form a Huntington County Bar Association. An organization was effected, and was apparently prosperous for a time, but for some reason
293
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
the interest waned and the association was allowed to die a natural death.
The present County Bar Association was organized on March 11, 1913, with twenty-eight members and the following officers: Charles W. Watkins, president; Arthur H. Sapp, vice-president; Charles K. Lucas, secretary and treasurer. According to the constitution of the association at that time adopted, the objects are: "To advance the science of jurisprudence, promote the administration of justice, uphold the honor of the profession of the law, and to promote and encourage the social, moral and mental well being of the members of the asso- ciation. "
Pursuant to the last clause of the above paragraph, the association began the work of promoting the "social" well being of the members by giving a banquet at the Huntington Hotel soon after the election of officers. Another banquet was given some time later, and on both occa- sions the spirit of good fellowship was manifest. Every practicing attorney in Huntington County is eligible for membership in the asso- ciation, and the organization bids fair to stimulate the ambition of its members to place the practice of law on a higher plane than ever before, if such a thing be possible.
From the bar docket of the Huntington Circuit Court for the April term in 1914, the following names of members of the Huntington County bar are taken: G. G. Bonewitz, F. H. Bowers, Wilbur Branyan, W. A. Branyan, Charles A. Butler, Claude Cline, John Q. Cline, B. M. Cobb, John R. Day, Z. T. Dungan, George M. Eberhart, Milo Feightner, James F. France, Charles Haller, William D. Hamer, W. W. Hildebrand, Burge H. Hurd, C. F. Jackman, L. H. Jackman, Albert G. Johnson, R. A. Kaufman, Edgar E. Kelsey, Sumner Kenner, Emmett O. King, Otto H. Krieg, Eben Lesh, U. S. Lesh, Charles K. Lucas, William F. Merchant, J. W. Moffett, Arthur H. Sapp, J. M. Sayler, S. M. Sayler, John V. Sees, L. L. Simons, T. G. Smith, H. B. Spencer, Francis I. Stults, G. W. Stults, Fred L. Van Dolsen, Charles W. Watkins, Orlando W. Whitelock, George Young, W. A. Zeller.
While most of the litigation in Huntington has been of a common- place character, there have been a few cases in which general curiosity was aroused and several trials in which some of the best legal talent in Northeastern Indiana was employed. Perhaps the first lawsuit ever filed in the Huntington Circuit Court to attract widespread attention was the suit of Dr. George A. Fate vs. Margaret Lafalia (or La Fallier) for breach of promise to marry, in 1842. The defendant came to Huntington as care-taker of the house built by Chief Richardville. It was a large house, and Madame Lafalia made it a sort of house of enter-
294
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
tainment for travelers. She was hospitable, entertained royally, and her house soon became a favorite resort for traders and travelers. Dr. George A. Fate, who opened the second general store in Huntington, was a frequent visitor, and in time won-or thought he had won-the affections of the beautiful French woman. Their engagement was announced, but a few months later a quarrel resulted over the sale of a cow, and Margaret forfeited her troth.
To sooth his wounded feelings, Dr. Fate brought suit for $10,000 damages, and employed Daniel D. Pratt, of Logansport, to prosecute his claim. The defense was conducted by George Johnson, W. H. Coombs and David H. Colerick, of Fort Wayne. The case was tried before Judge Borden in the old frame courthouse erected by General Tipton, and the little courtroom was packed during the entire pro- ceedings. John Kenower, who is still living in Huntington, at the age of ninety-four years, was one of the jury, which awarded the plaintiff damages in the sum of 1 cent, instead of the $10,000 demanded in his complaint.
There have been but few sensational or startling criminal trials in the county, and these were all of that class known as a "nine days' wonder." The majesty of the law has always been upheld and the authority of the courts practically universally recognized by the people. It is a notable fact that there has never been an instance of mob rule in the county, nor has the death sentence ever been imposed upon a criminal by a judge or jury.
The first trial in the county for murder was that of Joseph Maurice, who was arraigned at the March term in 1850, charged with having killed his wife by choking her to death. John R. Coffroth was then prosecuting attorney, and was assisted by Wilson B. Loughridge. The name of the defendant's counsel in this first felony case has not been learned. After a trial which lasted for three days, Maurice was ac- quitted.
On June 13, 1867, John Felschwab was stabbed to death by Charles Eger, a butcher, and the deed aroused general indignation. There was considerable talk of a lynching, and the sheriff, fearing the threats would be carried into execution, hurried the prisoner to Miami County, where he was afterward tried and sentenced to twenty-one years in the penitentiary.
At the June term in 1883, Charlotte Epps was placed on trial on the charge of having poisoned her husband, a man about seventy years of age, the motive for the crime having been to get possession of his property. The trial resulted in her conviction, and she was sentenced to the penitentiary for the remainder of her natural life, the first
295
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
woman to receive such a sentence in the Circuit Court of Huntington County.
William G. Morse, proprietor of the Silver Moon saloon in Hunting-
ton, was shot and fatally wounded on January 24, 1888, by Charles " v" Pfeifer, a man in Morse's employ. Pfeifer's trial began on April 12, 1888. Edwin C. Vaughn, the prosecuting attorney, was assisted by Charles W. Watkins and J. C. Branyan. The defendant's attorneys were J. B. Kenner and John I. Dille, of Huntington, and George W. Cooper of Columbus, Indiana. At noon on Saturday, April 14th, the case was given to the jury, which reached a verdict about midnight. The judge was summoned to the courtroom, the prisoner was brought from the jail, and the verdict, finding Pfeifer guilty of manslaughter and fixing the penalty at ten years' imprisonment in the penitentiary, was read just as Saturday ended and Sunday began.
About three weeks after the killing of Morse another murder oc- curred in the county. On Sunday, February 12, 1888, the body of Theodore Lorenze, a peddler who went about the Town of Huntington selling table linen, etc., was found in the woods about two miles north- west of the city and not far from the old fair grounds. The evidence given at the coroner's inquest pointed to Jacob Kahlenbeck as the guilty party and he was accordingly arrested. James B. Williams, deputy sheriff, went to the house where Kahlenbeck roomed and in the bottom of his trunk found some tablecloths and other articles which were identified as having been the property of the murdered peddler. The law firm of Cobb & Watkins and J. C. Branyan were engaged to assist Prosecutor Vaughn, and Kenner & Dille were the attorneys for the defense. Although the lawyers on both sides were willing to have the case tried by Judge Henry B. Sayler, then judge of the Circuit Court, the latter, for personal reasons, asked that a special judge be employed. Accordingly, Lyman Walker, judge of the Miami County Circuit Court, came to Huntington to conduct the trial, which began on Tuesday, May 8, 1888, and lasted until the 16th, when Kahlenbeck was found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced for life to the state's prison.
Another and more recent murder case that attracted considerable attention was the killing of James Bess by Thomas Bloom, in the south- ern part of the county. James Bess and his brother John were oil well drillers and relieved each other at noon and midnight. At midnight, on March 22, 1899 (Wednesday), James quit work and went to the barn of Thomas Bloom, where he kept his horse and buggy. He was accom- panied by his tool dresser, and after the horse was hitched to the buggy and they were about ready to depart. Mr. Bloom, who was secreted in the barn loft, fired at Bess with a shotgun and inflicted a severe wound
296
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
in the legs. Bloom afterward stated that he had missed grain and hay from his barn and had lost a number of chickens; that on the night the shooting was done Bess was putting a bundle of hay in the back part of his buggy at the time the shot was fired. Blood poisoning re- sulted from the wound, and Bess died the following Saturday. On Sunday Bloom was arrested and lodged in jail at Huntington. In April the grand jury returned an indictment for murder in the first degree, and Bloom was placed on trial in the Huntington Circuit Court on Tuesday, June 20, 1899. Prosecuting Attorney Branyan was as- sisted by Ellis Searles and L. L. Simons and the defense was conducted by Kenner & Lesh, Branyan & Heiney and J. Fred France.
In the first trial the jury disagreed and Bloom was released on bond. His second trial began on October 16, 1899, and on the 20th he was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to serve from two to fourteen years in the penitentiary. The last official act of Governor James A. Mount was to grant a parole to Mr. Bloom on January 14, 1901, and he was released from prison.
Although there have been other important civil and criminal trials in the county, the above mentioned cases are typical of the litigation that has occurred from time to time in the Circuit Court. In a major- ity of the cases in which persons were charged with crime justice has been speedily but fairly and impartially meted out to the offender, so that the "law's delay," of which so much has been said and written, hardly applies to Huntington County. Moreover, the courts have gen- erally been conducted in a manner that has commanded the respect of the better class of citizens, and the members of the bar have not been unmindful of the responsibilities of their profession. Judicial scandals and charges of pettifogging have been extremely rare, and upon the whole the legal business of the county has been conducted upon as high a plane as any county in the State of Indiana.
CHAPTER XV
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION
EARLY CONDITIONS IN HUNTINGTON COUNTY-FEES AND HARDSHIPS OF 1 THE PIONEER DOCTOR-HIS CHARACTER AND METHODS-HIS SOCIAL STANDING IN THE COMMUNITY-BALZAC'S TRIBUTE TO THE COUNTRY DOCTOR-DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROFESSION-BRIEF SKETCHES OF EARLY PHYSICIANS-EPIDEMICS OF CHOLERA AND SMALLPOX-BOARDS OF HEALTH-MEDICAL SOCIETIES-MEDICAL LEGISLATION - PRESENT DAY PHYSICIANS.
Among the early settlers in a new country none is more welcome than the physician. This was especially true of the settlements along the Wabash River in Indiana. For several years after the first perma- nent settlements were established the ague-generally spoken of in that day as chills and fever-was a prevalent malady. Drain tile had not yet been invented and in the stagnant pools and ponds of the marsh lands the mosquitoes multiplied by millions to carry the malaria germ to the homes of the pioneers with absolute impartiality. No door and window screens prevented their entrance to the dwelling, so that rich and poor, the babe in the cradle and the old and infirm were inoculated and suffered alike from the common disease, which in the late summer and autumn became almost epidemic. Old settlers now tell stories of how they suffered in pioneer days with chills and fever and treat the matter in the light of a huge joke, but at the time it was no laughing matter.
About the only inducement to a young doctor to locate in a new settlement was the hope of "getting in on the ground floor," that he might later share in the benefits that came to the people through the development of the country's natural resources. When the first settle- ments were made in Huntington County there were no roads open, the doctor had to make his calls on horseback through the woods, and often rode long distances to visit his patients, who were scattered over a wide expanse of territory. Money was a scarce article in the frontier settlements and the doctor was frequently compelled by circumstances
297
298
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
to take his fee in coonskins, fresh pork, corn or other products of the farmn. Sometimes he received no fee at all, but this did not deter him from answering calls for his professional services and ministering to the afflicted. As a rule, no night was too dark, no weather too inclem- ent, for the doctor to mount his horse and ride several miles to visit a patient, and he would sometimes remain at the bedside for hours, performing the duties of both physician and nurse, until the crisis was passed and he felt at liberty to take his departure.
If one of these old time doctors should return today to the scene of his labors and resume the practice of his profession according to the methods of three-quarters of a century ago, he might be considered a "back number." In his day there were no drug stores with plate glass cases bearing the legend "Prescriptions Promptly and Accurately Com- pounded," so he carried his stock of medicines about with him in a pair of pill-bags-a contrivance consisting of two leathern boxes, each containing a number of compartments for vials of different sizes, fas- tened together by a broad strap that was thrown over the rear of the saddle. Many times the doctor was not a graduate of a medical college, having acquired his professional training by reading with and acting as assistant to some older physician.
Duncan, in his Reminiscences of Early Indiana, says the early phy- sicians "provided themselves with a goodly supply of the largest lancets and unmeasured quantities of English calomel." But calomel was not alone in his stock of drugs. The doctor also kept at hand a supply of Peruvian bark (until the sulphate of quinine came into general use), jalap, aloes, tartar emetic, Dover's powders, salts, castor oil and fly blisters. Nearly every physician knew the formula for making "Cook's pills," which were freely prescribed in cases where the patient was suffering from a torpid liver. Besides the lancet, which was the stand- ard instrument for letting blood in certain cases of fever, his principal surgical implement was the "turnkey," for extracting teeth, for to this extent he was dentist as well as physician. No X-ray machine, nor other costly or elaborate apparatus, graced his office and his library was lim- ited to a few of the standard medical text-books of the period.
Perhaps the pioneer physician had a wholesome contempt for germs, microbes and bacteria. At any rate he often went about his business without pausing to consider whether his garments, or even his hands, were in an antiseptic condition or not, and his lancet and turnkey were not always sterilized between operations. However, there was one redeeming feature about the early physician. He did not assume to know it all, and as his practice increased he usually made efforts to keep abreast of his profession by attending lectures in some reputable
299
HISTORY OF HUNTINGTON COUNTY
medical school, the better to qualify himself for the duties and obliga- tions of his chosen calling. His patrons looked upon him as their per- sonal friend, as well as their medical adviser, and when he visited their homes he was often importuned to "stay and eat." On such occasions the best piece of fried chicken or the largest piece of pie generally found its way to the doctor's plate.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.