USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County Indiana (Volume 1) > Part 26
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before he received the advantages of any schooling. Then he went to the common schools, and in a few years taught a country school. Follow- ing this he entered the Delaware Academy at which he made rapid prog- ress in his studies. In 1849, he went back to his birth place in Ohio and while there taught a term of school. Subsequently he returned to Muncie and began the study of law in the office of Joseph S. Buckles where by good conduct and close application to his books he gave prom- ise of the success which he subsequently achieved. There he made such favorable impression on his preceptor that when he first bid for law business, which he did in Anderson, 1851, the name of his mentor was coupled with his own, and his sign read, "Buckles & Sansberry."
Mr. Sansberry was at once a hard working lawyer and an eloquent advocate. Many of his jury speeches are remembered to have been among the most powerful ever delivered here. And his success at the bar both in the fate of his clients and in the remuneration which he earned was commensurate with his merits. And he died the wealthiest member our bar has ever been called upon to mourn.
As some measure also of the range of Mr. Sansberry's capacity, it may be pertinent to say, that he filled the office of prosecuting attorney from 1852 to 1856 having been reelected midway between these dates. In 1864 he served as a presidential elector on the ticket favoring Gen- eral Mcclellan. He served one term in the legislature of his state-the session of 1870-71. And he discharged these several duties with the high degree of talent and integrity which leaves with every citizen and constituent a feeling of pride and satisfaction.
Mr. Sansberry passed away at the age of seventy-seven. But seven. teen years prior to that he had retired from active practice at the bar, thus exhibiting a rare exception to the rule. For when he was thus but sixty years of age in fine physical and mental condition and in the very plentitude of his practice, he chose to retire and live the remainder of his days the easy, quiet life among his neighbors and with his family, which he had fully earned and so deeply enjoyed to the very last.
Another giant of those days was Milton S. Robinson. He was born in Ripley county, Indiana, April 20, 1832, and reared there and in Decatur county. He began the practice of law at Anderson in 1851, and continued it until his death, July 28, 1892. But, like most men of his stamp and profession, public service broke some links in the chain of his prime pursuit. Milton S. Robinson was a patriot. And when the bugle note of war sounded, he dropped his Blackstone and shouldered a musket. He went to the front and remained there till the war was over. He was mustered in as a lieutenant-colonel, but afterward pro- moted to a colonelcy, frequently commanding a brigade. And in March, 1865, he was brevetted brigadier-general for gallant services at Chick- amauga, Missionary Ridge and other great battles.
And he had some political side lines too. He was a presidential elector on the Fremont ticket in 1856. He was only twenty-four years old at that time. IIe was elected to the state senate in 1866, to con- gress in 1874 and again in 1876, and appointed a judge of the appellate court of Indiana, 1891.
But it was as a lawyer perhaps, after all, that Colonel Robinson
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made his deepest and finest impression on those who knew him. It would require a book to relate the trials and incidents which bear upon his work and conduct in the practice. But if the dominant note of his soul can be sounded in one word, we venture to say it was honesty. He was perfectly oblivious to the temptation for gain. He first satis- fied himself that his client was in the right before he would take his cause. And rather than retain a fee which he thought was excessive, he would insist on the return of all above what he considered just, although it may have been passed to his credit long prior with the client satisfied.
In his family relations he was generous and above reproach. Always ready to open an opportunity to the young man and quick to extend a helping hand to his older comrades and associates, he had so lived that when he passed out from among his neighbors and friends, their name was legion whose hearts were bound to him like "hoops of steel."
Howell D. Thompson, who at the time of his death, March 14, 1901, had been in continuous practice longer than any member of the bar then living, was born in Center county, Pennsylvania, May 6, 1822. He spent his early boyhood days there working upon his father's farm. Then he came west and while a young man attended Farmer's College in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he graduated in 1849. Afterward he taught school and found his way to the study of law in the office of Hervey, Craven at Pendleton. He was admitted to this bar in 1851 and shortly afterward admitted to practice in the Indiana supreme court and in the federal courts.
He and Winburn R. Pierse associated themselves together for the practice of their profession soon after they had finished their studies. And the firm of Pierse & Thompson enjoyed a large practice in Ander- son until 1873, when by mutual consent it was dissolved.
Mr. Thompson gave his time and attention more exclusively to his profession probably than any other attorney at this bar. No office or other business ever drew him away, except that of school examiner which he held for two years. He clung to his desk with a rare devotion. Night, almost as regularly as day, found him there. He prided him- self on his fine collection of law books. And his library, rich in its store of elementary texts, contained among its varied choice reports, besides those of his own state, the New York court of appeals, John- son's Equity Reports, the Ohio State Reports, the Michigan Reports, the Minnesota Reports and a set of the North Eastern Reporter.
Mr. Thompson was wonderfully methodical in his practice and in all his habits and work about his office. As an instance of this may be cited his custom of writing down in narrative form a history of every lawsuit in which he was ever engaged. He kept this up to the end of his life. He had thus filled large journals with these records, all care- fully indexed. He put down the names of the parties in full, the nature of the issues and all the data pertinent to the case. Much of this great labor seemed to be for nothing. But in scores of instances attorneys and others looking for facts that had passed from the minds of men and from current sources of knowledge have found on the pages of his old records the information they sought.
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To the student who might be studying in his office, he was uni- formly kind and helpful. For the advancement of such he showed a genuine enthusiasm. He took up the course with the young man. He assigned him lessons. He came to the office, if more convenient, at night to hear him recite. He delighted in this manner to review the principles as laid down in Blackstone, Parsons, Chitty and Starkey. And it is needless perhaps to say that in doing so, he supplemented what was brought out of the books with many oral illustrations from his own experience which made a deep and abiding impression on the mind of the learner.
He was for many years and up to the date of his decease the presi- dent of the Madison County Bar Association. And although his health had become impaired during the last few years of his life, his interest in the courts and in the attorneys never lagged. He was regularly in attendance on call days and always with the same cheerfulness and smile that had marked him in days of more rugged health. And when Howell D. Thompson passed the last time from the court room and from earth, which was shortly afterward, every attorney at the bar felt the loss of a friend.
And speaking of Mr. Thompson it is but natural to refer to Win- burn R. Pierse, so intimately were they associated as students, as part- ners and as rivals at the bar. They were of about the same age, both studied together with Judge Craven, began the practice together as partners and each of them was engaged in active practice when death overtook them, which was but a few years apart.
But a business venture of considerable importance to this part of the country made a large hiatus in the legal career of Winburn R. Pierse. About 1873, he became interested in promoting the construc- tion of the Anderson & Lebanon Railroad, now the Central Indiana. He was one of its stockholders and to its development devoted much of his energy, time and means. In a financial way it proved a failure. And Judge Pierse like some of his associates in the enterprise was a heavy loser. And after several years spent in the furtherance of this laudible but costly undertaking, he returned to the work of his pro- fession.
Judge Pierse was a brilliant lawyer. He had a good legal mind. And the versatility of his powers has often been the subject of remark. It has been the judgment of some lawyers well qualified to speak in this regard, that he was as well equipped in every way for the practice of law as any one who has ever appeared in our courts.
He served two years upon the bench of the circuit court. But the major part of his time found him in the fierce conflicts of the court room. And the attorney whoever he might be, and in whatever kind of a cause they might be engaged, knew when Judge Pierse was on the other side, that he would have a fight on his hands. His success at the bar was great. Still he was a good loser. And when beaten took his defeat with the same chivalric grace which he wore in the hour of triumph.
Oliver P. Stone studied law in Winchester, Randolph county, Indiana, and was there admitted to the bar. He came to Anderson in
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the '50s and practiced there for some time. He then turned his atten- tion to educational work and was for several years school examiner under the old law. He became a large real estate owner and at one time owned the property now known as "Lincoln Terrace," near the Catholic church, at the corner of Eleventh and Fletcher streets. Mr. Stone was a successful lawyer and as school examiner did much to pave the way for the present magnificent public school system of Madison county. His son, Frank L. Stone, is now a practicing physician of Pen- dleton.
One of the most interesting among the patriarchs of the profession was De Witt C. Chipman. He is not generally classed among the early practictioners, because he lived much longer than his brothers at the bar. He was born in the same year as James W. Sansberry, and a year prior to the natal time of Richard Lake. But he lived until November 24, 1910. He came well down among the moderns with firm and elastic step.
Mr. Chipman was an older man than most people took him to be. Likewise, he is entitled to a higher rating as a lawyer than has gener- ally been accorded to him at this bar. The fact is he had passed the meridian of his power as a lawyer before he came to Anderson. But it is the province of history to credit one with all he may have done whenever or wherever it may have been.
De Witt C. Chipman lived in Noblesville nearly thirty years after he came from New York in 1841, and before he came to Anderson in 1870. But he had received a good education at some of the recognized institutions of learning in New York before he came west. He began the practice with flattering prospects. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1854 in his circuit comprising several counties, including that of Marion, where he met at that bar those brilliant young scions of their science, Benjamin Harrison and Jonathan W. Gordon. And so satis- factorily did he discharge his duties as the state's attorney, that he was retained as a deputy in the same place for ten years after the expira- tion of his own term, and during which time, the convictions accredited to him numbered nearly nine hundred.
In the latter portion of his life he made a specialty of patent law, and he finally drifted into this branch exclusively. He had undoubt- edly a greater practice in this field than any other attorney in this county.
Mr. Chipman was the recipient of several political honors of which any one might be proud. He was the first mayor of the city of Nobles- ville. He was chosen to a seat in the legislature of 1857, and later he was made the collector of internal revenue in his district under a com- mission signed by Abraham Lincoln.
John A. Harrison was a contemporary also of the above named Nestors. And in the days of his prime he was a foeman worthy the steel of any of them. He took up the law in the process of a natural development rather than from any set purpose in the start. He was a scholar, a mathematician, a civil engineer, a grammarian and acquainted with the Greek and Latin languages. He taught in the schools, but was induced to accept the office of justice of the peace.and here his keen
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and versatile mind grasped the grandeurs of the law, and he resolved to pursue it. He served two terms, in 1862 and 1864, as prosecuting attorney. He was counsel for the Bee Line Railroad for twelve years. And he was retained in many cases of importance in this and other counties. He was profoundly versed in the lore of the law and gave to its practice his undivided attention.
As an instance of his sagacity as an adviser, the following is recalled : A tax had been voted in several townships, to aid in the construction of the Cincinnati, Wabash & Michigan Railroad. Afterwards, however, this promotion became very unpopular, the tax payers in great num- bers had permitted the tax to go delinquent and petitioned the auditor of the county not to advertise or seek to collect the tax. This official was uncertain as to the action he should take. He realized the feeling of his constituents. But he knew also that if he should act contrary to law, he would become liable on his bond and might suffer serious damages for his mistake.
In this dilemma he consulted John A. Harrison who advised him to advertise the sale, and let the tax payers enjoin the collection. Thus the enraged tax payers could gain their point and the auditor would be shielded by the court's decree, whatever the final outcome might be. His counsel was followed.
Coming now to a more recent epoch of the bar in this county, we find the name of Joseph T. Smith who was born and grew to manhood in Boone township and came to the county seat about 1870. He was a careful, painstaking lawyer and enjoyed a large probate practice. He associated himself with Charles L. Henry under the firm name of Smith & Henry, and this continued for several years until 1878 when Mr. Smith moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where he died in 1907.
Calvin D. Thompson was a well known young lawyer who showed forth at this bar in the seventies. He devoted himself largely to the criminal practice, and built up a numerous clientage. This however fell away in later years. His health becoming uncertain, he moved with his family to Indianapolis, Indiana, about 1881, and lived but a short time afterward. He was a man of the warmest heart, of open mind and generous impulses. He was survived by his faithful wife and daughter, well remembered by old Andersonians.
One of the brightest young men who ever lived in Madison county was August S. McCallister, a son of one of this county's early inhab- itants, who figured in the political and social affairs of the community, highly respected and often honored by his fellow-men. Augustus S. McCallister was endowed by nature with language rarely possessed. He was a graduate of the Ann Arbor Law School and a member of the Madison county bar. In 1874 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the counties of Madison and Hamilton, but after serving for two years resigned.
As an orator he never had a superior in the local field and was equaled only by the late Captain William R. Myers. Captain Myers was more dramatic in his oratorical flights and raised his audience to the fullest height, while McCallister was calm and deliberate, his eloquence coming from the depths of a soul enwrapped in his utterances
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and a heart that knew no bounds of affection. His voice was clear and melodious and touched the tender chords of human nature as his words fell upon the ears of his auditors. He was well versed in the political issues and was always in demand upon the hustings in his district.
While attending the law school at Ann Arbor Mr. McCallister had an honor conferred upon him that he treasured as a pleasant memory through life. Hon. Stephen A. Douglas visited the city of Chicago, the students of the law school called upon him to pay their respects, and young McCallister was selected to make the address presenting the party of students. This is said to have been one of his finest oratorical efforts. His address was much appreciated by Mr. Douglas and ap- plauded by his classmates.
Mr. McCallister was a brilliant writer and to this talent may be attributed, to some extent, his abandoning the pursuit of law. He was a lover of political excitement and contributed to the local press many well written and sometimes scathing articles on the political situation. He was also for a time an editorial writer on the staff of the Anderson Standard, the columns of which during that period can tell better of his ability than any words of his biographer. Men of less intellectual caliber have filled high places and many who were his inferiors in edu- cation and natural ability have been chosen to offices of trust and honor in his immediate surroundings. He was content with the things that. were to be. He aspired to no political preferment, the only office he ever held having been thrust upon him. While he had his dislikes for some men, as all humankind possesses, they were not malicious. He could forgive and forget. His hand was as open as his heart and he was as generous towards the faults of others as he was in bestowing alms upon the poor. He gloried in espousing the cause of those whom he admired and was classed with his friends. His love for his fellow-man was deep- seated and the embers of affection for those he loved died only when the last spark of human life left his body, in the year 1881, in a lonely ward in a public hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, whither he had gone a few months before.
Fulsome praise is often bestowed upon the unworthy and men who have no real claim to prominence are frequently eulogized because of surrounding influences. This sketch is penned in remembrance of one who was worthy of all the good things that could be said of him, while drawing around him the drapery, hiding the faults to which he was heir.
Leander M. Schwin was born in Monroe township, in this county, in 1847. He worked on his father's farm, and later attended the law school of Valparaiso University, being a graduate of its first law class in 1881. He and E. B. McMahan immediately thereafter constituted a firm which engaged in the practice for two years at Alexandria, follow- ing which they came to Anderson. Here W. A. Kittinger joined them when their "shingle" read, "Kittinger, Schwin & McMahan." Mr. McMahan withdrawing from the firm in 1887, the other two remained together until the death of Mr. Schwin.
Mr. Schwin was endowed with a fine legal mind, and applied him- self closely to his work and with pronounced success. But being nat- Vol. 1-14
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urally of a frail constitution his health began to give way probably in 1890 or 1891. He spent the greater part of 1893 in Colorado, in an effort to build up his health, but without avail, and in November of that year while en route home, he breathed his last. And the Madison county bar had lost one of the gentlest, brightest and best equipped of its members.
To the same period also belongs Edwin P. Schlater, who when yet a young man in his teens, migrated from his native state of Pennsylvania to Wayne county, Indiana, in 1856. He was engaged in work upon some of the public records, of that county when his skill which was great in that line, was noticed by no less a person than Thomas A. Hendricks, who recommended him to Col. William C. Fleming, clerk of the court in this county, and who was then in need of a deputy.
Mr. Schlater came to Anderson in 1865 and became useful not only in the clerk's office, but from time to time in several of the other county offices in the keeping of the books and the transaction of the business connected with the same. And his expert knowledge and thorough familiarity with the county records became of incalculable value after the fire of 1880, which destroyed the old courthouse and burned, or partially burned, many of the records and papers then kept in it. But Mr. Schlater was able to identify and restore some of the more important of these documents which otherwise would have been a total loss.
But the gifts of Edwin P. Schlater were not to be confined to the dry details of records and accounts. His mind took a wider range and it was no great while until he had proven himself to be an efficient statute lawyer. He began the practice of law in 1878. He was more familiar than any attorney of his time at this bar with the provisions and prac- tice relating to drainage, gravel roads and probate matters, and for many years he enjoyed an enviable and lucrative class of business along those lines. He was industrious, prompt to fill his engagements and strictly honest and reliable, and those traits combined with habits of social, moral and family faithfulness made him one of the best of Anderson's citizens. The year of his birth was 1840 and that of his death 1894.
George M. Ballard arrived in Elwood from Belpre, Ohio, in the seventies. He lived and kept his office there many years for the prac- tice of law in this and adjoining counties. When the town of Elwood was changed into a city, Mr. Ballard became its first city attorney. In 1886 he removed his residence to Anderson and opened a law office here. He was recognized as one of the strong lawyers of the bar when he came to the county seat and his business was soon all that he could take care of. He was the city attorney of Anderson during a term, also of the towns of Pendleton and Lapel. He was for many years solicitor for the Pan Handle Railway Company and for the Belt Railway Company of Anderson. But besides his corporation practice he appeared on one side or the other of many noted civil and criminal causes tried in Madi- son and other counties.
The triumphs of Mr. Ballard at the bar are worthy of recital owing to the simple fact, if upon no other ground, that he rose to his com- manding place there through the native strength and poise of his own
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brain, unaided and alone, and without the preparation of a profes- sional or even a literary training. He felt the loss and need of these or at least thought he did, and often spoke of it with regret. But the ranks of the profession are sprinkled with disciples of the law who had enjoyed these advantages fully and who were yet but pigmies by the side of George M. Ballard as they opposed him in the actual conflicts of the trial and in his telling arguments before the jury.
One instance of his sway in this regard is worthy of recall. It was his defense of young Overshiner on the charge of murder in the first degree. The probability of guilt on the statement of the case seemed probable. But the defendant was the son of a devoted friend of his counsel, and no labor was spared, no detail of evidence was left unsifted that would help or hurt his client. He traveled to distant states to take the depositions of witnesses whose testimony he needed. It was a defense prompted by the loyalty of friendship and not for any fee. The whole being and ambition of George M. Ballard at the time was wrapped up in this effort. The day for trial, after long delay and the complete readiness of Mr. Ballard, came on. The state was represented by able counsel. But the exhaustive preparedness of the defense, the relentless determination and above all the burning eloquence of Mr. Ballard poured forth upon the understandings of men direct from a soul wholly convinced of the innocence of his client and the righteousness of his cause could not be withstood, and the verdict could only be what it was, "not guilty." The return of that verdict, Mr. Ballard often said after- ward, was one of the happiest moments of his life. And it was an achievement worthy of such an expression and of a great legal battle.
The chivalric demeanor, the courtesy and good cheer of George M. Ballard toward the members with whom he came in contact must ever remain in the memory of each among its happiest treasures.
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