USA > Indiana > Johnson County > History of Johnson County, Indiana > Part 10
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Of other deputies in the office whose services to the county deserve mention are Ferd E. McClellan, deputy under Byfield and Daulton Wilson ; Dollie Van Vleet Burgett, who paved the way for woman's work in the court house, during her brother's term as clerk; and Edna Flannagan, who has served in a like capacity under Joseph A. Schmith and the present clerk.
The complete official register of the clerk's office is as follows :
Samuel Herriott
1823-1839
David Allen
1839-1844
Isaac Jones
1844-1847
Royal S. Hicks 1847-1850 1 1 I 1
Jacob Sibert 1850-1855
William H. Barnett
1
1
1
1855-1863
John W. Wilson
1863-1871
Isaac M. Thompson
1871-1879
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I
1
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Thomas Hardin 1879-1883
Samuel Harris
1883-1887
David Fitzgibbon 1
1887-1891
Charles Byfield
1891-1899
Daulton Wilson
1899-1903
Gilbert B. Van Vleet
1903-1907
Joseph A. Schmith
1907-1911
James T. Gilmore
I9II-
1
1
1
COUNTY SHERIFF.
Rawles, in his "Government of the People of the State of Indiana," thus defines the duty of this office: "The sheriff is elected for a term of two years, and no person is eligible more than four years in a period of six. The office of sheriff had its origin in England many centuries ago, when that country was divided into shires. The reeve was an official of great im- portance who called the people together in the shire-moot or meeting, presided over its sessions and executed its decrees; whence came the name shire-reeve, or sheriff. The office has been shorn of many of its duties and much of its dignity; but it is yet the chief executive office of the county and of the courts." The sheriff is a conservator of the peace. It is his duty to arrest with or without a warrant persons committing crime or misdemeanor within his view; and to suppress all breaches of the peace within his knowledge- having authority to call to his aid the posse comitatus, or the power of the county. If this force be not sufficient, he may call upon the governor of the state. If the militia of the state can not put down the disorder, the governor may call upon the President of the United States, whose duty it is to employ the national forces to suppress insurrection. The sheriff is also required to pursue and commit to jails all felons, and for this purpose he may go into any county in the state. He is charged with the keeping of the jail and the care of prisoners, and must protect them from mob violence. He attends and preserves order in the circuit, criminal and superior courts, either in person or by deputy, and executes -all decrees; he transfers all prisoners under death sentence to the state's prison for execution. He acts as deputy to the sheriff of the supreme court. He performs certain duties in relation to elections."
It may be added that he also attends upon and serves the board of com- missioners' court as he does the circuit court; he attends the sessions of the county council and executes its orders ; he serves all processes issued on order
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of the county board of review. As the clerk is the voice of the court, speaking its will, so is the sheriff the arm of the court, enforcing its orders and carrying out its decrees.
When there is neither sheriff nor coroner to attend upon the circuit court, an elisor may be appointed to serve during the pendency of the matter in which the regular officer is incapacitated. Prior to 1889, it was the duty of the sheriff to hang the man upon whom the death penalty was inflicted, but no legal hanging ever took place within the borders of the county.
The only mob violence ever recorded in the county grew out of the murder of John Lyons, an old citizen of Pleasant township, in the late sixties. Lyons had sold two cows at the stock yards in Indianapolis for seventy dol- lars, and two men by the name of Hatchell and Patterson, who saw him pocket the money, followed him to his home in this county and, breaking in the door with a rail, robbed and slew their victim in the presence of his aged wife. Capt. William A. Owens, then sheriff, took up the clews at hand and finding the men, who were frequenters of saloons near the stockyards, engaged in reckless spending of their foully gotten money, arrested them and brought them to the old jail on the southwest corner of the court house square. On the way, Hatchell confessed the crime and, his story spreading, the community took fire. Hastily organizing, a mob of one hundred rode down to the town on horseback, sending a committee ahead to demand the key to the lock- up of the sheriff.
At that time, there were three prisoners in the jail, Hatchell and Patter- son, and Peter Dittman, who was charged with the killing of a woman at Edinburg. The lock-up consisted of two cells, one on the first floor for men and the other on the second floor for women. The door to the cell was secured by an immense lock, twelve by sixteen inches, with a key a foot long. About the court house yard was a tight board fence about four feet high and just outside of that stood a row of posts, with a chain loosely attached thereto serving as a hitch rack.
As soon as Owens learned of the purpose of the mob, he hastened to the court house and hid the key to the cell in his office safe. Then sending his son to arouse the town, he went back to the jail, where he was seized and bound by the mob, who had followed closely upon their committee. After searching the premises for the key and failing to get any information from Owens, the mob sent men to Turner's blacksmith shop, just south of the square, who soon returned with sledge hammers.
In the meantime, several citizens including G. M. Overstreet, Samuel P.
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Oyler, T. W. Woollen, all prominent attorneys, had responded to Owen's call, and attempted to dissuade the mob from their violence. But the lawyers' speeches were very impatiently listened to and soon rudely interrupted by the blows of the sledge hammers on the cell lock. It was the work of but a few minutes to reach the prisoners. Hatchell and Dittman were seized and hurried away on horseback. The mob had proceeded only a square north on Main street when they were persuaded by the violent protests of Dittman of their mistake. One half of their number went back to the jail with Ditt- man, who was identified by the sheriff, and him they left as they secured Patterson, who had been cowering in a corner of his cell.
Patterson was brought out to be placed on horseback, but as he was helped up he leaped over the horse, scaled the west fence, but fell headlong over the hitch chain. This fall enabled the mob to press him closely and they at last brought him to the ground in the alley west of Ditmar's store, with a bullet in his thigh. The mob then reformed, and proceeded north on the state road to Lysander Adams' woods, just north of the present corporation line. There to the wide spreading limb of a beech tree, the victims were hung. The horses on which the men rode were led under the limb, the ropes passed over the limb, tied about the body of the tree, and the horses led from under the dangling bodies. The mob made sure of its work, and waited until all signs of life were extinct. The bodies were then lowered to the ground and a rail fence built around them, where they lay until a late hour the next morning.
No real attempt was made to investigate this violent deed. Too many prominent men of the north part of the county were involved. And while Dittman was brought back from the penitentiary as a witness before the grand jury, he was of course unable to identify any member of the mob and while the grand jury returned indictments against six or seven men, supposed to be most deeeply involved, upon a trial of the cause in the circuit court, a ver- dict of not guilty, in the first case tried, was returned, and the inquiry was abandoned. But to many yet living the memory of that night is a sad and terrible one.
Under the common law practice, prior to the adoption of the new state constitution in 1851 the sheriff was called upon frequently to make "arrests" in civil actions. The first action tried before the circuit court of Johnson county was "an action on the case," in which the plaintiffs allege that the defendant, William Hunt, by his promissory note in writing, promised to pay to plaintiffs the sum of seventy-seven dollars, but that "said defendant not
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regarding his said promise and undertaking so by him made in this behalf as aforesaid, but contriving and fraudulently intending craftily and subtilely to deceive and defraud the said plaintiff, hath not as yet paid the said sum of money." Pursuant to this action, "a writ of capias ad respondendum issued out of the clerk's office directed to the sheriff of the county of Johnson re- turnable to the first day of the term on the back of which writ was an endorse- ment requiring bail." The sheriff duly executed the writ by an arrest of the defendant, but upon giving special bail, he was released pending the action. On the trial of the case, defendant failed to appear, and judgment was entered on default. "Then comes William W. Robison, special bail for the said William Hunt, and surrenders the body of the said William Hunt in discharge of his recognizance of special bail, and upon prayer of the said plaintiff it is ordered that the said William Hunt be committed to and con- tinue in the capacity of the sheriff until discharged by the payment of the judgment or otherwise."
Every person imprisoned in a civil action was allowed the privilege of "prison bounds," which were fixed by statute as the limits of the county. If a man committed to jail on civil process made affidavit that he was unable to support himself, the party on whose suit he was confined must pay his board in jail, or the sheriff might discharge him, as the county paid only for "diet- ing" the prisoners in criminal action. I observe that by the Revised Statutes of 1843 the sheriff was, as now, required to keep the jail, but our records show accounts with Tobias Woods, "Jailor," as late as 1845.
According to Judge Banta (Historical Sketch of Johnson County, page 106), "great confusion seems to have existed from 1844 to 1851 in the sheriff's office. He gives the list as follows: Isaac Jones, 1839-1841 ; un- known, 1841-1842; Austin Jacobs, 1842-1844; Samuel Hall, John Jackson, Wm. C. Jones, 1844; David Allen, 1844-1845; Robert Johnson, Nixon Hughes, Wm. Bridges, 1847; Wm. H. Jennings, 1847-1851.
The records of the commissioners' court show that Isaac Jones served not only in the years above given, but also in 1841, 1842 and until after the August election in 1843 (See Com. Rec. "B," pp. 400, 416). Austin Jacobs filled the office until after the June term, 1844. The records at the September term, 1844, recite: "It appearing that there is no acting sheriff at this time, Wylie Jones is appointed sheriff pro tem for the present session of the board." At the ensuing December term, William C. Jones is allowed for services as sheriff, but there is no record of his appointment. At the March term, 1845, Samuel Hall, sheriff, is allowed twenty-three dollars thirty-three
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and one-third cents for his services extra as sheriff for the four months end- ing the first Monday in March, 1845. Hall continues to serve as sheriff at the June term, 1845, and until September 1, 1845 (see Commissioners' Rec- ord "B", p. 179).
David Allen was elected at the August election, 1845. Robert Johnson was elected at the August election, 1847, and continued to serve until Aug- ust 23, 1849. I find no authority for the statement that John Jackson, Nixon Hughes, or William Bridges served as sheriff at any time during the forties, under any election or regular appointment.
The following list of those who have served as sheriff, I believe to be correct : John Smiley, 1823-1827; Joab Woodruff, 1827-1831; John S. Thompson, 1831-1835; David Allen, 1835-1839; Isaac Jones, 1839-1843; Austin Jacobs, 1843-1844; Wylie Jones (pro tem), 1844; Samuel Hall, 1844- 1845; David Allen, 1845-1847; Robert Johnson, 1847-1849; William H. Jennings, 1849-1853; H. L. McClellan, 1853-1857; Noah Perry, 1857-1859; Eli Butler, 1859-1863; John W. Higgins, 1863-1867; William A. Owens, 1867-1871; Robert Gillaspy, 1871-1875; James H. Pudney, 1875-1879; Wil- liam Neal, 1879-1883; George C. Stuart, 1883-1887; Jacob Hazelett, 1887- 1889; Preston Maiden, 1889-1890; James Curry, 1890; Jas. K. P. Mussel- man, 1890-1894; John C. Weddle, 1894-1898; James G. Brown, 1898-1903; James W. Baldwin, 1903-1907; Hal F. Musselman, 1907-1911; Ozais E. Vandivier, 1911.
COUNTY RECORDER.
In the recorder's office are found records of deeds of conveyance of land ; leases for a longer term than three years; mortgages of real and personal property and releases thereof; notices of mechanics' liens; deeds of assign- ment in cases of insolvency ; articles of association and certificates of incor- poration; ditch and highway assessments; plats of all additions to cities and towns; articles of apprenticeship and descriptions of ear marks and brands, although these last named have not been found of record within many years past.
Conveyances of land are recorded in "Deed Records"; mortgages and liens of a like character in "Mortgage Records"; city and town plats in "Plat Records"; the other records in "Miscellaneous Records"; and all are indexed in alphabetical order, so that it is easy for any one to find a needed record. For many years, persons were allowed forty-five days in which to file for record all deeds, mortgages and leases. But the new law (Acts 1913, p. 233) is of so much importance that it is herewith given in full :
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"Every conveyance or mortgage of lands or of any interest therein and every lease for more than three years shall be recorded in the recorder's office of the county where such lands shall be situated; and every conveyance, mort- gage or lease shall take priority according to the time of the filing thereof; and such conveyance, mortgage or lease shall be fraudulent and void as against any subsequent purchaser, lessee or mortgagee in good faith and for a valu- able consideration, having his deed, mortgage or lease first recorded; the same to be in effect on and after January 1, 1914."
The first deed record was delivered at the recorder's office on August 14, 1824.
The first deed of record bears date of August 7, 1822, and was executed by Abraham Lee, of Franklin county, Indiana, to Margaret Hunt, of the same place. It was not recorded in this county until September 3, 1824. The lands are described as the west half of the northwest quarter of section 34, township 11 north, of range 5 east, in the District of Brookville-referring to the land office opened at Brookville, Indiana, in 1820, for entry of lands in the New Purchase. The first deed executed in Johnson county bears date of August 14, 1823, and conveyed lands in "Nineve" township.
The first mortgage of record was a chattel mortgage executed by Rich- ard Ship to his brother, John Ship, and bearing date August 7, 1824. The record is an interesting commentary on the life and letters of the time. Among the securities offered are the following: "One large bible; Bigland's View of the World, five volumes; Buck's Theological Dicksanary, two vol- umes; Davises sermons, three volumes; Gills explanation on the scripture, three volumes; Fuller's works, four volumes; Fletchers works, six volumes; Butterworth's concordence; three volumes of Buck's works; three arith- matecks; Scott's essays; one volume Tatler's works; four volumes Walker's Dicksanary; Edwards on the will, one volume; Dick on Inspiration; Weather- spoon on election, one volume; Souen's Sermons, one volume; Harvey's Meditations, one volume; Parcus Greek Lexicon; twenty volumes of greek and Latin; twenty volumes of other books."
William Shaffer, the first recorder, was a carpenter or house-joiner, and not very adept in the use of the pen. Many of his records were penned by a deputy. No record is found to show how he secured his election or appoint- ment in 1823. The first election returns now extant and showing his election are those for the August election of 1829.
J. R. Clemmer, one of the most popular young men of the county, dur- ing his second term as recorder, left the town of Franklin on the 22nd day
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of October, 1884, and was never thereafter heard from. His mysterious disappearance was the sensation of the time, and his friends have always believed that murder lay behind the mystery. His brother, George W. Clem- mer, performed the duties of the office until June 9, 1885, when James T. Trout, an appointee of the county board, took up the duties of the office.
The salary of the office now is one thousand four hundred dollars. Where he collects fees in excess of the amount of his salary, he is allowed to retain thirty per cent. of the excess as additional compensation. The total cost of the office to the people of the county for the year 1912 was one thou- sand, five hundred seventy-seven dollars and thirty-four cents. The official list follows: William Shaffer, 1823-1836; Pierson Murphy, 1836-1843; Thomas Alexander, 1843-1844; Jacob Peggs, 1844-1859; William S. Rags- dale, 1859-1863; Willett Tyler, 1863-1867; Jacob Peggs, 1867-1875; George W. Demaree, 1875-1879; Jefferson R. Clemmer, 1879-1885; James T. Trout, 1885-1887; William H. Barnett, 1887-1891 ; George W. Clemmer, 1891- 1895; John Belk, 1895-1899; Silas W. Trout, 1899-1903; Lewis T. Deer, 1903-1907; William M. Burgett, 1907-1911 ; Chauncey J. Powell, 1911.
THE CORONER.
Only two county officers were required to be elected under the constitu- tion of 1816-the sheriff and coroner. The office is one of great antiquity. Originally the coroner or crowner was appointed by the King and was the special representative of the King in the county. They held courts of inquiry over unusual calamities like wrecks, fires and sudden deaths to fix responsi- bility if possible. In the course of time, the office became elective and the duties confined to investigation of deaths under any mysterious or suspicious circumstances.
The coroner in such case holds an inquest with the aid of a jury of twelve, witnesses are heard, sometimes autopsies made, and if the facts are sufficient to indicate murder and to implicate the guilty, he may order arrest. Many think that the office has lost its usefulness, other agencies better adapted to the investigation of crime now being at hand.
The coroner receives only certain fees, the total cost of the office for 1912 being three hundred sixty-two dollars and forty cents.
Curtis Pritchard was the first coroner, elected in 1823. In 1827, Jeffer- son D. Jones succeeded him. Below is a list of those who have served since 1859: Henry Whitesides, 1859-1863 ; Lemuel Tilson, 1863-1868; Will- iam H. Jennings, 1868-1869; Hume Sturgeon, 1869-1872; J. Henry Fuller,
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1872-1873 ; William S. Ragsdale, 1873-1874; John D. Van Nuys, 1874-1875; William S. Ragsdale, 1875-1876; Hume Sturgeon, 1876-1878; John F. Mc- Clellan, 1878-1882; Howard Thompson, 1882-1885; John F. Mcclellan, 1885-1886; James T. Jones, 1886-1890; L. L. Whitesides, 1890-1893; James T. Jones, 1893-1898; Rufus W. Terhune, 1898-1907; Daniel W. Sheek, 1907.
THE COUNTY SURVEYOR.
In the pioneer days of Kentucky, the settler selected a tract of land to his liking, and had a rude survey made, marking the limits of his land by blazing trees. So difficult was it to identify a survey thus made that several patents would often be issued for the same body of land, and much needless litigation arose between the contending claimants. In the settlement of the Northwest territory, this confusion of entries was avoided by the system of survey suggested by Thomas Jefferson. The Jeffersonian survey, authorized by the land ordinance of Congress in'1785, called for the location of lines running north and south to be known as "meridian lines," and of lines run- ning east and west to be known as "base lines." The first principal meridian is the dividing line between Ohio and Indiana. The second principal meridian is a line running due north from the mouth of Little Blue river, eighty-nine miles west of the eastern line of Indiana. On each side of the principal meridian, there are marked out subordinate meridians, called range lines, six miles apart, and numbered east and west from their meridian. The west line of Johnson county is parallel with and twelve miles east of the second prin- cipal meridian.
This meridian line is intersected at right angles by a line running east and west called a base line. The only base line running through the state of Indiana crosses it from east to west in latitude thirty-eight degrees thirty minutes, leaving the Ohio river about twenty-five miles above Louisville, and striking the Wabash four miles above the mouth of White river, and inter- secting the second principal meridian at a point six miles south of Paoli, in Orange county. The south line of Johnson county is parallel with and sixty miles north of the base line. On each side of this base line are drawn sub- ordinate parallels called township lines, six miles apart, and numbered north and south from the base line.
By these range lines running north and south and the township lines running east and west, the whole state is divided into congressional town- ships, each six miles square. For illustration, Hensley township, in Johnson
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county, is in the southwest corner of the county, and is six miles square; it is therefore in range 3 east and in township II north; Union township, which lies immediately north of Hensley and is also six miles square, lies all in range 3 east, and in township 12 north; while Nineveh township, lying just east of Hensley and being six miles square, lies all in township II north and in range 4 east.
Each congressional township, therefore, being six miles square, con- tains thirty-six square miles of territory, each square mile being called a section, and bearing its proper number. Section number I is always found in the northeast corner of the township, thence numbering west to section 6 in the northwest corner of the township; section 7 is found immediately south of section 6, and the numbering proceeds thence east to section 12, lying directly south of section 1; and so the numbering proceeds to section 36 in the southeast corner of the township.
For further convenience, each section is further divided into quarter sections, each containing one hundred and sixty acres, and named northeast, northwest, southwest and southeast, according to their location. The quarter section is further subdivided into halves, each containing eighty acres, and into quarters, each containing forty acres. With this checkerboard arrange- ment, it is possible to number and identify easily all regular plots of ground. Thus a square ten-acre tract of land in the southeast corner of a section is called the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of that section.
Corner stones or other monuments have been set out and properly marked at the corners of all sections, and at the half-mile points between them, a rec- ord of which is kept at the surveyor's office. Additional monuments to mark the smaller subdivisions of the section are also placed by the surveyor on proper petition after notice to the land owners interested.
This regular and convenient system of survey not only made it possible for early settlers to locate and identify their entries without the aid of a sur- veyor, and save much needless litigation over conflicting boundary lines, but it had other important tendencies. Square townships are apt to make square or rectangular counties and the state is also likely to have a more sym- metrical shape. The counties of Virginia and Kentucky, taking shape from river or mountain boundaries, are jagged and irregular in outline, while the counties of Indiana are more likely to be bounded by parallel lines. Our highways thus come to be laid out in regular and straight lines, giving easy access in every direction and making the cultivation of the adjoining fields
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more convenient. Then, too, an eighty-acre tract could be purchased from the government at the time of entry for one hundred dollars, or a forty-acre tract for fifty dollars, thus rendering an "entry of land" a simple and easy business transaction.
It is often asked, why are the sections on the north and west side of each congressional township fractional? Some of the half quarter sections in our county, commonly called "eighties," really contain less than sixty acres. The question bears a ready solution. The law, while it required the meridian or township lines to be true north and south lines, also required the townships to be square-an evident impossibility-for all true north and south lines, by reason of the convexity of the earth's surface, converge to- ward the poles, thus making the north line of the township shorter than the south line. This inequality becomes more and more marked, the higher the latitude of the survey. In the survey of our state, therefore, the lines were corrected every six miles, the range lines again starting at correct distances from the principal meridian. The survey being continued from the south toward the north, the deficiency or excess is thrown to the west and north sides of the township.
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