USA > Indiana > Public men of Indiana : a political history from 1860 to 1890, v. 1 > Part 12
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
Colonel Courtland C. Matson was the Demo- cratic nominee for governor in 1888, and Captain William R. Myers, who later served three terms as secretary of state and previously one in con- gress, was the nominee for lieutenant governor. Both having been gallant Union soldiers were greatly embarrassed and handicapped in their campaigns by Cleveland's vetoes of pension legisla-
193
tion, and met their defeat as a consequence. Colo- nel Matson graduated from Asbury University in 1858, and began the law practice at Greencastle, that he left in 1861 to enlist as a soldier in the 16th Indiana Regiment, and became captain of one of its companies and at its term of service ending again enlisted for three years, and became colonel and served until the war closed. He served in congress from 1882 until 1888. While a member of congress was chairman of the house committee on invalid pensions and the author of the widows' pension bill, and had secured the passage of the many pension measures that Cleveland vetoed. Captain William R. Myers served as a Union sol- dier for three years, and identified himself with the Democratic party in 1872; was a great orator and good lawyer, practicing his profession at An- derson when nominated for congress to make what seemed to be a hopeless race against General Wil- liam Grose, of New Castle, whom he met in joint debates and defeated. His army comrade, Daniel J. Mustard, and his associate, John L. Forkner, persuaded him against his inclinations to engage in a joint discussion with General Grose. Grose pretended that he had been nominated over his pro- test and against the wishes of his family and did not want to go to congress, except to please his friends. The powers of ridicule came to the relief . of Myers, in their first joint discussion, when he so humorously commented on the pretenses of Grose as to make him the laughing stock of the people, whose votes he wanted, and Myers had an easy
194
-
victory, but was defeated for re-election by his fel- low townsman, Colonel Milton S. Robinson.
John L. Forkner, or "Jack," as he has so long been called, held county offices and was mayor of Anderson for many years, and is still living and honored as one of the oldest and best citizens of that thriving city, as is Dan Mustard, who has for more than half a century been a banker and leader in the civic affairs of Anderson, and both have been leaders of the Democratic party of the county.
14
195
CHAPTER XXVIII
G OVERNOR Morton disliked General Walter Q. Gresham, but had no admiration for Gen- eral Benjamin Harrison, each of whom had a group of followers in the Republican party who stood ready to champion their respective ambitions for leadership, when it became manifest that Morton would soon pass away. He was so indifferent as be-
tween them that he was not known to have ever given a hint as to which of them he would prefer to follow him as the leader of his party. General Gresham was appointed United States district judge for the district of Indiana without the con- sent of Senator Morton and it was said over his protest.
His position as judge gave him much influence in the Department of Justice at Washington, if he chose to use it by making recommendations for ap- pointments of United States district attorneys and marshals in his district. Colonel William W. Dudley, of Wayne County, had lost a limb in the army service, was elected clerk of the Wayne circuit court, and was desirous of becoming United States marshal to succeed General Ben Spooner, who died while holding that office. His appoint- ment as marshal was credited to Gresham. He
196
ยท
---
was a practical politician, and became notorious as the organizer of the floating voters into "blocks of five" to carry the election of 1880, and having ac- complished that result, and with it secured a Re- publican legislature that would elect a United States senator, his influence was much desired by aspirants for the senate, an honor sought by both Gresham and Harrison, but not openly by Gresh- am. Harrison got the Republican caucus nomina- tion and was elected, supposedly through the manipulations of Dudley, and a great breach be- tween Gresham and Dudley followed.
The prestige and influence that Harrison gained by being senator was not, however, greater than Gresham had held, and continued to hold at Wash- ington during the terms of Grant, Haves and Arthur. Arthur, when nominated as vice-president with Garfield, was known to belong to what was called the Stalwart wing of the Republican party of New York, led by Senator Roscoe Conkling, while Garfield was identified with the Blaine wing. The assassination of Garfield made Arthur presi- dent, and Gresham became a member of his cabinet as postmaster general and secretary of the treasury. Soon after his retirement from the cabinet Arthur appointed him as judge of the United States cir- cuit court for the district of Indiana and Illinois, and he soon thereafter moved to Chicago, but con- tinued to have a large number of followers in the Republican party of Indiana, who urged his can- didacy for the nomination for president before the Republican national convention of 1888, but HIar-
197
rison's forces secured all but two of the delegates from that state while Gresham got the votes of Illinois and Missouri, and some from other states, leading Harrison until the Blaine forces finally swung to Harrison and nominated him.
Gresham's judicial record fully vindicated Grant's wisdom in giving him his first opportunity in civil life to show his worthiness. While serving as district judge he also heard most of the cases that came within the jurisdiction of the United States circuit court, and his able and fearless deci- sions won the highest respect for him by all the able lawyers of the country.
Cleveland's election in 1892 was favored by Gresham and he received his reward by being appointed as secretary of state in Cleveland's cabinet. His death occurred while serving as such, and he was laid away in Oakwood's cemetery at Chicago on Decoration day, 1895. President Cleve- land and other members of his cabinet attended the funeral. a mark of respect that Cleveland did not show to the memory of Thomas A. Hen- dricks, who had made him president, and died while serving as vice-president on the 28th day of November, 1885.
198
JUDGE J. A. S. MITCHELL
CHAPTER XXIX
T 1 HE opinions of the Supreme Court of Indiana, at this writing, consist of 183 volumes in addi- tion to the eight volumes of Blackford's Reports. They have at all times ranked high as authorities in other jurisdictions, and particularly in the days of Blackford and his associate judges were cited oftener and quoted from more by law writers and judges in other jurisdictions than those of any other state, except possibly Massachusetts and New York, and this prominence has been fairly well maintained ever since. With few exceptions, the judges who have composed the court, have been among the ablest lawyers of the State, in- cluding a number who rendered service to their country during the Civil War. Among these soldiers were Colonel Edwin P. Hammond, who served throughout the war and marched with Sherman to the sea; Captain Joseph A. S. Mitch- ell, who commanded a cavalry company from the beginning to the close of the war; Timothy E. Howard, who served as a private soldier: also Judge Walter Olds. The city of Goshen, Elkhart County, has been a liberal contributor to both the state and federal judiciary. Judge William A. Woods and Captain Joseph A. S. Mitchell, of that
199
city, were nominees of their respective parties for supreme judge at the election of 1880. Woods was successful and two years later was appointed United States district judge for the district of In- diana. Governor Porter filled the vacancy occa- sioned in the Supreme Court by appointing Colonel Hammond, who was nominated to succeed himself at the election of 1884, but was defeated by Cap- tain Mitchell, who was elected again in 1890, and died while in office. John H. Baker, of Goshen, served in congress from March, 1875, to March, 1881, and was appointed United States district judge for the district of Indiana in 1892, to suc- ceed Judge Woods, who had been promoted to the circuit court. His son, Francis E. Baker, was elected and served as supreme judge of Indiana for three years, when he resigned and was appoint- ed in 1902 to succeed Judge Woods as circuit judge, and became one of the judges of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the seventh circuit, where he has served continuously, and is now the presiding judge of that court. He gradu- ated from the University of Michigan, getting the degrees, B. A. and LL. D. and from the University of California with the degree of LL. D. and Phi Beta Kappa college honors.
Charles Miller, who, like Francis E. Baker, re- ceived his legal education in the law office of Ba- ker and Mitchell, composed of John H. Baker and Captain Mitchell, became United States dis- triet attorney for the district of Indiana.
Captain Mitchell was an ideal judge, a man of
200
most pleasing personality, a trustee of Asbury Uni- versity, and a polished scholar, who stood for high ideals in citizenship as well, as in political matters, and contributed great prestige to his party in the State, as well as great learning to the judicial office he held.
It is no disparagement to others to point to the opinions written by him as ranking with those of Isaac Blackford, Jehu T. Elliott, James L. Wor- den, Alexander C. Downey and Byron K. Elliott. For clearness of statement, profound reasoning, and literary expression, they were faultless and like those of Byron K. Elliott always gave great prom- inence to underlying elementary principles and were of a most instructive character.
Byron K. Elliott, after long service on the su- preme bench, wrote, in association with his son, Wm. F. Elliott, a number of law books, one on the law of evidence, and others pertaining to practice and procedure, of great value to the legal profes- sion.
It fell to the lot of Judge William A. Woods, as a federal judge, to decide many cases of pub- lic importance and political in character, in which great jurisdictional questions were involved. The jurisdiction of the Federal court to try and de- termine the question of guilt of election officials for tampering with tally sheets at State elections and perpetrating election frauds came before him. and he held that the court had jurisdiction, because at the same election a member of congress was voted for, which gave it the character of a national
201
election within the provisions of acts of congress, and a number of parties were convicted of the of- fenses with which they were charged. Following another general election an attempt was made to invoke the jurisdiction of the Federal court in the prosecution of parties who were alleged to have conspired to commit frauds at the presidential elec- tion of that year, but he held the indictments faulty and dismissed the accused. For this decision he was much criticised and accused of partisanship and inconsistency in convicting the accused in one instance and allowing them to escape in the other, but in the belief of many able lawyers of both po- litical parties this criticism was unfair, as there was a clear distinction between the charges in the in- dictments in the respective cases.
The great case, in re Debs and others, who were convicted of nuisance in disturbing and injuring the public in their acts of calling and maintaining a railroad strike at Chicago in 1893, and in con- structively violating an injunction that had been granted to prevent the destruction of railroad property, came before him and the imprisonment of Debs and others followed as a result of his decision. His opinion, found in both the federal reports and in the reports of the decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States, is well worth reading and stands out in great prominence in its definitions of nuisance and purpresture, and in its reasoning. These were only a few of the many cases of far reaching interest and public impor- tance in which his decisions were fearlessly made.
202
He was a powerful man, both physically and men- tally, and a most active and industrious worker during his long term of judicial service and com- manded the highest respect of his judicial associ- ates, as well as that of the many lawyers, who had cases in his courts.
It has sometimes been a matter of cynical com- ment that so many judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana became the general counsel of railroad companies, some of them resigning to accept such employments.
Judge William Z. Stuart resigned from the Supreme Court to accept employment as general counsel of the Wabash Railroad Company, and held the position the balance of his life, when it descended to his sons.
Judge Walter Olds resigned from the supreme bench and several years later became general attor- ney for the Nickel Plate Railroad Company.
Judge Allen Zollars, of Fort Wayne, became general attorney for the Fort Wayne division of the Pennsylvania Company soon after his term as supreme judge expired.
Judge Leonard J. Hackney became general so- licitor of the Big Four Company upon his retire- ment from the supreme bench.
It is only fair and just to say that there was nothing in any of the decisions or opinions of these men while occupying the bench that justified the innuendoes implied in these cynical comments. But it has been a fact of common observation that rail- road companies, operating in Indiana, because of a
203
.
!
:
:
supposed but an overestimated prejudice against them, have at all times been alert to the impor- tance of preventing the nominations by either party of men to the supreme bench who might be unjust to them in their decisions, and their repre- sentatives have always been attendants at conven- tions and vigilant in urging the defeat of candi- dates of the respective parties that they deemed undesirable.
This vigilance on their part is not to be won- dered at when it is remembered that so many laws requiring construction and enforcement against them have been enacted in the State, among them the employers' liability acts, and the laws relating to taxation of railroad property.
One of the acts passed in 1869 was the act pro- viding for the granting of aid by counties to con- struct railroads, and many roads were projected with a view of getting this aid. The Constitution of the State had prohibited counties from lending their credit to corporations, and the validity of this act was contested upon the ground that the consti- tutional prohibition was violated by it. The Su- preme Court upheld the act by applying a strict and literal rule of construction to the constitutional inhibition holding that giving aid in cash was not giving credit. This was a victory for the promot- ers of railroad enterprises. The operators of rail- roads were not as successful in their opposition to legislative acts, as were promoters in support of the aid law.
The employers' liability act that in effect abol-
204
-
ished the old rule of law that enabled railroad companies to avoid liability for deaths and per- sonal injuries by invoking what was known as the fellow servant rule and the doctrine of assumed risks, was the most important of any other act in its consequences to railroad companies, and to the credit of the Supreme Court it must be said that the most the companies could do in resisting its pro- visions was but to delay its enforcement in the many cases that were appealed.
They were equally unsuccessful in their efforts to defeat the laws relating to taxation. They vig- orously contested, as unconstitutional, the acts pro- viding for assessments upon their roads upon the ground, as they contended, that they imposed bur- dens upon them that other classes of property were exempted from. The Supreme Court of the State upheld the acts and the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed its decision. William A. Ketcham was the attorney general of the state in this litigation and followed it at every step in all the courts. To his skill, industry and determina- tion in upholding these laws the people of the State owe much. Before becoming attorney general he was known as a fighting lawyer, who never yielded his contentions or compromised the rights of his clients, and could not be intimidated by threats or cajoled by promises. He got his fighting qualities in the army in which he enlisted in the war for the Union, and from the station of a private soldier gained the rank of captain, and became the com- mander of the Grand Army of the Republic. He
205
began the law practice as a member of the firm of Ketcham and Mitchell, composed of his father, John M. Ketcham and Major James L. Mitchell. Upon the death of his father and the election of Major Mitchell as mayor of Indianapolis, he formed a co-partnership with Judges Horatio C. Newcomb and Solomon Claypool, under the name, Claypool, Newcomb and Ketcham. This firm was for many years one of the leading law firms of In- dianapolis.
Major Mitchell was the first Democratic mayor of Indianapolis elected after the Civil War. Gen- eral Daniel McCauley was his predecessor in that office. Judge Claypool had been for many years judge of the Putnam circuit court, and Judge New- comb was one of the judges of the superior court of Marion County, and a Republican nominee in 1876 for judge of the Supreme Court. John Caven succeeded Mitchell as mayor.
206
CHAPTER XXX
T HE last governor to serve out his full term before 1890 was Isaac P. Gray, who was elect- ed as a Democrat over Major William H. Calkins, the Republican nominee in 1884.
The Greeley campaign of 1872 brought a num- ber of former Republicans into the Democratic party, among these General William Harrow, of Mount Vernon, Indiana, who had won distinction as a brigadier general in the Union army during the Civil War, and lost his life in a railroad acci- dent while making a speaking tour in support of Greeley.
Other ex-Union soldiers who became Democrats and leaders of the party were Captains William R. Myrs of Anderson, John C. Nelson and Maurice Winfield of Logansport. Myers, as already men- tioned, was afterwards elected to congress and served three terms as secretary of state, while both Nelson and Winfield were honored by election as judges and rendered faithful judicial service.
Isaac P. Gray, who identified himself as a Dem- ocrat at that time, has been mentioned in previous pages and a partial estimate of his greatness has been indicated without taking into account his achievements in mobilizing a small but powerful
207
army of practical politicians of the State, as his friends, who early recognized him as their cham- pion, and proved themselves of great service to him in promoting his political ambitions. The fee sys- tem of compensating county officers for official ser- vices afforded so many methods of imposing bur- dens on litigants and taxpayers that there was for a number of years a popular demand that it be abolished, and that specific salaries as a means of compensating them be substituted in its place. This popular demand was quietly but determi- nately opposed by the beneficiaries of the system who formed associations to resist it in legislative lobbies and political conventions, where their mem- bers were always conspicuous. To this organization combined with his own great powers and intellec- tual capacity, Gray owed much for his political successes that are set forth in 1500 eulogistic words found in Volume 2 of an Encyclopedia of Indi- ana Biography, in which the statement is made that during his term as governor, "he rendered excel- lent service to his State and inaugurated and car- ried to success many reforms," but as no bill of particulars showing what these "reforms" consisted of appears in this biographical sketch, they cannot be here set forth.
208
CHAPTER XXXI
M ANY men, other than those mentioned in pre- ceding pages, have been contributors to the educational, industrial and political affairs of their respective localities and in many instances served the State in the maintenance of its position as one of the loyal States of the Union. They were men who did not consider themselves as entitled to the halo that their heroism and good work deserved. but were satisfied with a self-consciousness of duty well performed, without advertising their accom- plishments. Their lives were those of inward experience rather than outward show. While they have not been given the historic records that should have been preserved their fellow citizens were nevertheless not wanting in a manifestation of appreciation of their worth. This was shown par- ticularly in respect to the men who aided in pre-
venting the dismemberment of the Union. The people of the State did not forget the promises they made to those who went forth to fight their battles. In a great majority of the counties a majority of the county offices were filled by men who had served in the Union Army, and the judi- cial standards of the State were ably maintained in most of the judicial districts by able nisi prius
209
judges who had rendered good military service to their country.
In glancing over the alphabetical list of the counties of the State there is brought to the mind of the writer men in nearly all of them with whom he was personally acquainted and about whom much should be written that must be preserved for use in the volume that is designed to follow this. - He deems it a fitting close of this one to record something about the people of the one county in the State that was long his residence and where he became bound by the sacred marriage relation that brought a happy companionship from the year 1869 until the year 1919, to be then broken by death, as the golden anniversary approached, and he would be unmindful of the wishes of the one who ever cherished a loving and loyal devotion to her birthplace did he not select it above all others for some mention of life-long acquaintances.
This County of Hamilton affords such a rich and tempting field for his reminiscences that his fears of unfair selections of his subjects forbid his doing more than to briefly record some of the facts about those with whom he was most intimately acquainted or professionally associated. It was at Noblesville in that county that, through the kind- ness of an uncle whose name is engraved on the sol- diers' monument that stands in beautiful Crown- land cemetery and was dedicated in 1868. that in the month of August, 1865, he was brought in asso- ciation with lawyers and judges by being appointed deputy clerk of the Hamilton Circuit Court and for
210
.
the first time saw a presiding judge, who was Judge Joseph S. Buckles of Muncie, Indiana. Other ex-judges and prominent lawyers of that day, who attended at sessions of the court, were Judge Stephen Major, mentioned in the first chap- ter, Judge William Z. Stuart of Logansport, John Davis of Anderson, Walter March of Muncie, Nathan R. Overman and John Green of Tipton, and Nathaniel R. Lindsay of Kokomo. The great abilities of these men so impressed him that he determined to try to become a lawyer himself, and three years later he entered the law office of Gen- eral David Moss of Noblesville to begin his studies. Judge Earl S. Stone, the Nestor of the Hamilton County bar was in early days a circuit judge. As a lawyer he was noted for the neatness and accuracy of the legal documents he prepared and for the very moderate charges he made for his legal service. He took a great interest in agricultural development and spent much time at work on his fine farm on the west side of White River that overlooked the town of Noblesville.
General Moss had been a general of the State militia in earlier days and was conceded the leader- ship of the bar in that county, and had an extensive practice in others. At the beginning of the Civil War he became active as a War Democrat and recruited many soldiers for the 75th and 101st Indiana Regiments, expecting to become colonel of the latter, but through the partiality of Gover- nor Morton for Breckinridge Democrats, William Garver was appointed its colonel and resigned
211
15
3
after a few months' service to accept the office of judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and held it until that office was abolished; meanwhile he also became a candidate for circuit judge but was defeated by Judge John Davis of Anderson, who presided for a few months and then became so dis- abled physically that he could not hold the courts and a special act of the legislature was passed per- mitting the governor under such circumstances to appoint a judge in his stead, and James O'Brien, a lawyer of Noblesville, was appointed by Gover- nor Baker and later, while holding the office, moved to Kokomo, Howard County then being in the cir- cuit, and became prominent in the affairs of that county and represented it in the State Senate a few years afterwards. His brother, Colonel Wil- liam O'Brien, was lieutenant-colonel of the 75th Indiana Regiment, was severely wounded at the battle of Peach Tree Creek in Georgia, losing part of his right hand, but remained with his regiment until the war closed and then engaged with his brother, James, in the law practice and was soon elected prosecuting attorney of the circuit and was also chosen as State Senator. It was on his motion that the writer was admitted to practice law. Colo- nel O'Brien was fast gaining popular prominence in the State when his health gave way and in 1874 he went to California in search of health but died at Santa Barbara. His widow, a daughter of the venerable and highly respected John Pontious, a woman of excellent education, returned to Nobles- ville with her two sons and was for more than he'
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.