History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 24

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918

USA > Indiana > Madison County > History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I > Part 24

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).

"January 10, 1899, sufficient funds having been subscribed to insure the fulfillment of the plan, a mass meeting was held in Odd Fellows' hall and a temporary organization was effeeted with Mr. F. N. Simmons as chairman, and Mrs. H. F. Willkie as secretary. Mr. H. F. Willkie was authorized to draft articles of incorporation and secure a charter.

"January 25, 1899, the charter having been obtained, and the required fund being guaranteed by subscriptions, the permanent organi- zation was effeeted in Odd Fellows' hall by the election of a board of fifteen direetors for a period of one year."

Popular interest in the movement to establish a public library was manifested in the subseriptions to the stock. Among the subscribers and contributors were most of the leading professional and business men of Elwood, a number of lodges and trades unions, Sunday school classes and the children of the public schools. In April, 1899, the library was opened in a small room at 1414 Main street, with 1,150 volumes, twelve magazines in the reading room department, and Mrs. Eva Gilmore in charge as librarian. In June, 1899, the library was turned over to the city and a tax was levied by the city council for its sup- port. The following spring the library was removed to the new eity hall building. In 1901, at the solieitation of the Women's Club, the American Tin Plate Company made a donation of $1,000.

In December, 1901 Andrew Carnegie, in response to a communication from the librarian and secretary of the association, Mrs. F. L. Saylor, offered to donate $25,000 for the ereetion of a building, provided the

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city would furnish a site and levy an annual tax equal to 10 per cent. of the gift. The proposition was accepted, a further gift of $5,000 was received from Mr. Carnegie in 1903, and on June 1, 1904, the building was dedicated and opened to the public. In the meantime Mrs. Hannalı B. Leeds had given the library $500 and D. G. Reed had donated $100 as an endowment fund for a men's room in the library building.

In June, 1909, library privileges were extended to all the residents of Pipe Creek township, and about a month after this action was taken a branch library was opened at Frankton. J. L. Clauser was president of the board in 1913; Mrs. M. E. King, secretary, and Miss Henriette L. Scranton was librarian.

Some efforts were made to establish a public library in Alexandria in the closing years of the last century, but they were unsuccessful.

ELWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY

The present library association was organized in 1901 and soon after it was chartered steps were taken to secure the asistance of Mr. Carnegie in the erection of a suitable building. A donation was promised under the usual conditions that an appropriate site be furnished and an annual tax equal to 10 per cent. of the donation be levied by the city council for the library's support. A lot was accordingly purchased at the cor- ner of East Church and Wayne streets, the council levied a tax that would bring in about $1,400 annually, and Mr. Carnegie sent in his donation of $12,000, which was subsequently increased by a supple- mentary gift of $2,000. The building, a neat little structure, was opened to the public in 1904 and in 1913 the library numbered over five thousand volumes.

The board of directors of the Alexandria Library Association for the year 1913 was as follows: Dr. F. G. Keller, president; Rev. G. A. Little, vice-president; Mrs. Minnie Malone, secretary ; Rev. F. P. Faust, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic church; E. P. McMahan, representing Monroe township; A. L. Custer, superintendent of the public schools ; Mrs. F. C. Jones and W. H. May, the last named being an ex officio director, by virtue of his office of township trustee. Miss Zada Carr is the librarian and Miss Bessie Bertsche, assistant.

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A library association was organized at Pendleton on November 8, 1877. Dr. O. W. Brownback was elected president and James W. Hard- man, secretary. Articles of association and a eode of by-laws were adopted and it was decided to solicit subscriptions to a capital stoek of $1,000, divided into two hundred shares of $5 cach. Subscriptions amounting to $110, or twenty-two shares, were made at the meeting and the work of solieiting was commenced. J. B. Lewis, W. F. Morris, O. W. Brownback, Charles E. Goodrich and Benjamin Rogers were elected directors to serve until the annual meeting of the stockholders as pro- vided for in the articles of association. Among the stockholders were Hervey Craven, A. W. Cook, B. F. Aiman, G. A. Phipps, J. R. Silver, J. F. Silver, Isaac P. Rinewalt, F. M. Hardy, W. R. Kinnard, S. F. and J. L. Thomas, J. W., H. F. and W. H. Lewis, and a number of others

PENDLETON PUBLIC LIBRARY

whose names cannot be ascertained. The library was established in what was known as the Red Ribbon reading room in the Commercial block, but the records of the old association appear to have been lost and the history of the library eannot be obtained.

The present public library in Pendleton was first conceived by Mrs. Sarah Skillen Cook and her ideas were carried into effect by an organ- ization known as the Independent Social Club, Mrs. Cook being aided by Mrs. Ida Parsons, Thomas M. Hardy, Sr., and her club associates in the establishment of a cireulating library of their own, supported by contributions. The library was kept in Tank's drug store, but as inter- est in the work increased it soon became evident that more commodious quarters would have to be secured. A mass meeting was therefore called at the Methodist Episcopal church in the early part of 1910, to discuss "ways and means" of making the library a permanent institu- tion. Thomas M.' Hardy, Sr., offered to donate a lot on East State

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street, near the high school building, if money could be raised for the erection of a building. This fact was made known to Mr. Carnegie, who offered to donate $8,000, if the town board would guarantee an annual fund of $800 for the support of the library. His proposition was accepted and a tax levied in accordance therewith, and on March 1, 1912, the building was formally dedicated. Jacob P. Dunn, of the state library commission was present and delivered the principal address, Major Henry Post, Grand Army of the Republic, presented the library with eighty-four volumes of war history, the Saturday Club gave 110 volumes, the churches also contributed a number of volumes, and on March 4, 1912, the library was opened to the public, with Miss Margaret Wade, as librarian. The library now numbers about 2,200 volumes.

In addition to the public libraries above described, every public school in the county has a small library composed of works of reference, history and travel, and the books prescribed by the young people's reading circle, supplementary to the regular course of study in the com- mon schools. It is impossible, in the absence of official reports, to give the number of volumes in these school libraries, but Professor James W. Frazier, county superintendent, estimates that there are ten thousand volumes in the township schools alone. There are probably as many more in the school libraries in the cities and incorporated towns.

With school property valued at over $1,100,000; with more than a quarter of a million dollars expended annually in teachers' salaries; with almost a score of well-edited local newspapers; with four public libraries housed in buildings erected especially for their accommoda- tion, and some twenty thousand volumes in the libraries of the public schools, the reader may see that the educational development of Madi- son county has been at least equal to that of the other counties of the state. As a rule, the teachers employed in the public schools are men and women of inherent natural ability, supplemented by training for their work, and many of them hold teachers' licenses of the highest grade. The parents generally believe in education, newspapers and magazines find their way into a majority of the homes, the school and public libraries are well patronized by the students in the public schools, and everything points to a still higher educational standard in the county in the future.

CHAPTER XII BENCH AND BAR

FIRST SEAT OF JUSTICE-EARLY COURTS AND PIONEER JUDGES-CHAR- ACTER OF THE EARLY LAWYERS-SKETCHIES OF JUDGES AND PROMI- NENT ATTORNEYS-THE SUPERIOR COURT-INCIDENTS IN CONNEC- TION WITH LEGAL PRACTICE.

Contributed by Frank P. Foster, October, 1913

When Madison county was organized in 1823, its seat of government was located at Pendleton and kept there until 1828, when it was moved to Anderson. The first housing of its court in this city, or town as it then was, though that was less than a century ago, links the dawn of our courts with a cherished romance of the period, for our first court- house was a log cabin which had been built and inhabited by the good Indian, Chief Anderson, and his son.

At the beginning of our judicial needs, the statutes made provisions for a circuit court which has continued down to the present, and bids fair for a long life yet. Now and then at different dates other tribunals have sprung into existence, but most of them, some after a considerable period, others in a few brief years, following their creation were cut short and are no more. The jurisdiction of these additional courts was not so comprehensive as that of the circuit court.

The probate court which flourished from 1829 to 1852 had to do simply with such matters as are now addressed to the probate side of the circuit court. James Scott was its first judge and held his office for more than ten years and until 1841, when W. H. Mershon rose to the same honor wore it during a like period and until 1851 when J. N. Starkey succeeded him only to lose his office the next year when the court was abolished.

With the disestablishment of the probate court, a court of common pleas was brought into existence and was retained until 1873, when the legislature compelled it to go the way of the former inferior tribunal. The district of this court was composed of the counties of Madison, Hancock and Henry. And the attorneys elected to fill the office of judge while it lasted were as follows beginning with the first and nam- ing them in the order of their service: David S. Gooding of Hancock county, Richard Lake of Madison, William Grose of Henry, E. B. Mar- tindale of Henry, David S. Gooding, again elected in 1862, William R. West of Madison and Robert L. Polk of Henry.

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And the attorneys who prosecuted the pleas of the state in this court were from first to last naming them in the order of their service : James W. Sansberry, W. R. Hough, Calvin D. Thompson, William F. Wallace, Joseph W. Worl and Washington Saunders.

The only bench in the county which in importance may properly be classed with that of the circuit court is our superior court organized in 1895. Aside from criminal and probate cases, over which it has no power, its jurisdiction is co-equal and co-extensive with that of the circuit court in all civil causes.

The superior court of Madison county has proved itself of great value. Its beginning took on a happy cast from the splendid adminis- tration which it received through the ability of William S. Diven, its first judge, appointed to the position by the governor of the state imme- diately upon the passage of the act creating the court. He brought to the discharge of his duties all the essential requisites of a successful nisi prius court-industry, impartiality, a keen sense of honor and the mental power to grasp readily the force of testimony and the law's reasons.

The confidence of the public in this court continues. The three terms inaugurated since that of Judge Diven closed have enlisted the conscientious labors of Henry C. Ryan, Cassius M. Greenlee and Clar- ence H. Austill, the present incumbent, respectively in the order named. And their deliberations and decisions have aided in securing for this tribunal the high respect of the bar and of litigants, and a bright place on the pages of our judicial history.

Referring again to the circuit court we behold a long line of judges who have from time to time been summoned to its service. At the time of its creation and for many years following that, two associate judges were called to sit with the circuit judge in the trial of causes. This form of procedure lasted until 1852. Then it was changed, and ever since then the circuit judge has presided alone.

The names of those occupying this position from the birth of the county down to 1852, are William W. Wick, Miles C. Eggleston, Bethel F. Morris, William W. Wick (second term), James Morrison, David Kilgore, and Jeremiah Smith. And the associate judges who served during the same period were: Samuel Holliday, Adam Winsell, Andrew Jackson, Charles Mitchell, William Prigg, Abram Thomas, Uriah Van Pelt, David Pickard, George Millspaugh, J. W. Walker and Eli Hodson. And the names of the circuit judges since 1852 are : Stephen Major, Joseph S. Buckles, Henry A. Brouse, John Davis, James O'Brien, Winburn R. Pierse, Hervey Craven, Eli B. Goodykoontz, David N. Moss, Marcellus A. Chipman, Alfred Ellison, John F .- McClure, Charles K. Bagot.

This court in Madison county, owing to its long life, cocval almost with that of the state, and the high and faithful character of its func- tions deserves in this connection more than a mere mention of its duration or its honored names. Those of an earlier period with few exceptions were chosen from the counties with which Madison at differ- ent times was framed into judicial circuits, and naturally were not so well known to us as those who were elevated to that station from our

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very midst, which of course took place as populations grew denser and the circuits in consequence dwindled in area. This process has advanced until Madison county has become a circuit to itself. The judges of the old circuits, however, were men of exalted characters and deserve as they are sure to retain the respect and gratitude of all who have inher- ited the safe and sane conditions of a society to which they definitely contributed by their care and efforts in the administration of justice. The record of the Madison circuit court can not be truly traced in terms other than those of praise. No one of its many members was ever impeached nor so much as threatened with such a proceeding. It has never been charged or believed upon reliable authority that any one of them was ever moved or tempted in his official action by corrupt con- siderations. The people of the county can not too often recall the debt of gratitude they owe to their clean and upright judges. Think of the thousands of controversies they have heard and helped to settle. It seems but little short of marvelous that through all the quarrels of neighbors and the fierce litigation that has marked our local history, we should yet have settled down to the quiet order of the present, so that all fair minded men now looking back over the work of the courts may say, "well done." Can the general public or the litigants directly effected do less than declare the integrity and intelligence of the Madi- son county courts ?

To some of the men who have served upon the circuit bench in recent times there attaches a special interest, both from the inherent traits of their characters and from the volume and importance of the questions which they were called upon to try and determine.

At the conclusion of a certain trial before the Honorable Hervey Craven wherein the defendant had been fined, his attorney in a com- plaining tone remarked that the judgment was rather severe. To this the judge replied, "Well, damn him, he shot my dog."

Again, when a woman of none too savory a reputation for chastity had appeared at the bar for trial upon a charge which emphasized her unfortunate weakness, the judge after a composed but complete survey of the court room, turned to the sheriff and inquired why it was that Dr. and Mr. , and a number of well known citizens, naming them, were not present. None of these gentlemen had any connection with the case, but the judge knowing their relish of the testimony usually elicited at such trials, thought it worth while to inquire in open court for them.

But who looking back a generation does not delight to honor the "rough and ready" manner of Judge Craven, by which he enlivened the administration of justice? And though somewhat eccentric in his notions of procedure and the etiquette of the court room, no one questioned his integrity or that he possessed a fearless love of justice or the courage to open for it a highway to the true goal when weighty issues were at stake.

The disposition to encourage a compromise of pending litigation has increased notably during the present generation. This may be the case in various counties of the state. But whether such is a fact or not, it is so in Madison county. And the spirit of compromise was given

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its most distinctive opportunity when Eli B. Goodykoontz succeeded Judge Craven on the bench in 1880. Judge Goodykoontz had never exhibited the extreme qualities of a militant, even as a practitioner. He came nearer to being what is generally understood as an office law- yer. And while he was unquestionably a good pleader and sound law- yer, as may be supposed from his long partnerships with two giants of the local bar, that first with John Davis, who subsequently became judge, and that afterward with the late James W. Sansberry, he did not enjoy participation in the fierce conflicts of the form. Hence, as was but natural when he came to preside as the judge of the circuit bench, it was his habit as it was his happy privilege, in cases prom- ising but meager results at the end of long drawn out struggles, to sug- gest to attorneys for plaitiffs and defendants a settlement without trial. In many instances his advice was followed. And soon the resort to mutual settlements without the intervention of judge or jury became almost common, except in the weightier cases where differences were radical or of such a nature that the tribunal provided by the statute, as aften happens, was the most expedient, the cheapest and the best that could be invoked for the determination of the dispute. But Judge Goodykoontz was a man of the purest morals, the highest integrity, and with his firm grasp of legal principles, he was a positive aid in the con- duct of the court, and his widespread and healthful influence for honor- able practice at the bar had a justification in all that he did and stood for.

Marcellus A. Chipman came to the bench in 1888. He was the absolute antithesis, both of Judge Moss his immediate predecessor and of Judge Goodykoontz who had preceded Judge Moss, in his attitude toward pleading and practice. They cared hardly at all for form, if only results might be reached. Judge Chipman was more lawyer like. Trained to make issues by regular and logical steps, he adhered to that method always. And nothing delighted him more than a well worded, clean cut, logical presentation of an issue on paper. To him came exquisite delight to weigh the argument of counsel as revealed in sharp incisions of keen retort or in the heavy proof of authority piled on authority. He fell nothing short of the kindly men who had gone before him in his hope to see justice prevail. He had all patience, and would listen to an advocate old or young as long as he cared to write or talk in support of his position. But he seemed to think that when a party had committed his grievance to the court, it should be threshed out through the processes there provided. And so with the circumspec- tion of the clear headed pleader, with the promptness of the faithful public servant, with the fairness of the just judge, he welcomed the formation of the issues to a finish and all the conflict that those joining them might produce until judgment was rendered. This requirement of the court too was a good lesson to those practicing before it. The advantage of well reasoned statements and carefully prepared papers were readily recognized by all members of the bar. And there is no doubt that many, especially the younger lawyers, have experienced great help in the fondness of Judge Chipman for correct pleading and for all the finer practices of the profession.

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Alfred Ellison was chosen circuit judge by the electors of the county in 1890, being at the time but thirty-six years of age, probably the youngest candidate ever elevated to that position in this county. Ile had then been engaged in the practice of his profession but a few years, and there were not lacking those in the campaign who expressed their doubts of his ability to discharge the duties of the office to which he aspired. But the fact soon dawned and to the great gratification of his friends, that he was fully master of the new situation. During the first four years of his term there were more causes disposed of by him each term than ever found their way to a trial calendar in a single term in any court in this county before or since. Hundreds of these causes involved large sums and important interests. But the judge did not shirk the mountain of labor which thus piled up before him. Day after day he held court through terms practically unending, for when the statutory time arrived for a new term to commence the old one was still holding on. Besides this, night sessions of the court were not uncommon. Ten o'clock found court in session many nights. And upon a few occasions the jury was instructed by Judge Ellison after the clock in the tower had struck the solemn hour of midnight. The work was more than one judge should have been required to do. And finally to relieve the overworked court and to facilitate the disposition of cases the movement began, which resulted in the establishment of the supe- rior court in the latter part of his term. Very few, only three or four of the judgments rendered by Judge Ellison and appealed to the supreme court were reversed. And he never met with a reversal in the higher courts from his instructions to a jury.

The characteristic bearing of Judge Ellison upon the bench was dis- tinctly courteous, and his uniform kindness and ease of manner toward the several members of the bar served to make him popular. And all remembering his industry, his integrity, and his kindly disposition, retain for him their admiration and good will.

The success of Judge Ellison had made it plain that the younger as well as the older lawyers were fit for the bench. And so as one of this class had done so well, the thought was natural that another might be tried. It was in this conviction that the people called John F. McClure to try his hand. He was just rounding to the maturity of his mental powers when elected judge in 1896. And endowed with a conquering greediness for the toil that runs a question down, he delved into the principles of law and the details of evidence in so thorough a fashion that although he may have seemed to be slow as he plodded, it was plain when he had concluded his finding and judgment that he was really rapid, for then the whole fabric of the case stood revealed and its atmos- phere cleared in his complete consideration and exposition of the same. His re-election to a second term was an indorsement of his first. And during the whole of his twelve years upon the bench he performed a prodigious amount of labor, through which with admirable judicial poise and earnest manner uniquely underlaid with a fine sparkle and relish of quiet wit, he won and retains the deep appreciation of the bar and public.

It may be that the merits of Charles K. Bagot as judge of the Madi-

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son circuit court can not now be so truly measured or appreciated as they may when his entire career in such capacity shall have dropped into the golden mould of time. But his work has gone far enough already to warrant an assertion of its success, as it has a general belief that he will leave behind him a judicial record of exceptional worth and ability.

He had engaged for many years in an active practice in the courts when called to preside in this one. He possessed a rare knowledge of the law and of the rules of proceedure, which he has carried and applied in the best and most conscientious way to his work upon the bench. Lay- ing aside the partiality which the attorney naturally takes on for his client, he assumes in his high position the impartiality and reserve which are found only in the trusted arbiter of litigants. And his unfailing evenness of temper and genial disposition, together with his recognized understanding of the law fit him well for his varied work as judge in questions of probate, in civil and criminal causes.

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History of Madison County, Indiana ; a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Volume I, Part 24

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926 Publication date: 1970 Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc. Number of Pages: 918

Author: Forkner, John La Rue, 1844-1926
Publication date: 1970
Publisher: Evansville Ind. : Unigraphic, Inc.
Number of Pages: 918