USA > Indiana > Adams County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 33
USA > Indiana > Wells County > Standard history of Adams and Wells counties, Indiana : An authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume I > Part 33
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40
At the September term, 1842, the name of Horatio M. Slack, the second resident attorney of Bluffton, appears of record. At this term William II. Coombs of Fort Wayne appeared as prosecuting attorney. After having practiced at that city for more than one-half century. he rounded off his career by a brief service on the Supreme Bench, and retired from active practice at a venerable age. During his term the judge and ex-Prosecuting Attorney Ferry were jointly indieted on the novel charge of "aiding in the escape of a prisoner."
DAVID L. COLERICK
At the March term, 1843, the venerable David II. Colerick appeared as prosecuting attorney. In his prime he was a man of excellent de- livery and surpassing eloquence, and several of his sons have in- herited great ability in these respects.
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JOHN W. DAWSON
At this term John W. Dawson, afterward editor of the Fort Wayne Times, and subsequently governor of Utah Territory, was admitted to the bar. Ile was a ready writer and a strong, aggressive man, but his pilgrimage elosed in the late '70s. Two important events occurred at this term, the conviction of Associate Justiee Greer for violating the revenue laws, and the indictment of S. G. Upton, the third resi- dent attorney admitted to the bar, for barratry; but for the credit of the fraternity let it be said that he was acquitted of the charge.
At the September term, 1843, Robert B. Turner became associate judge with Mr. Greer, and Lewis Lynn was then sheriff.
FIRST CONVICTION OF A FELON
At the March term, 1844, Lysander C. Jacoby was special prose- eutor. During this session Ezekiel Parker was convicted of obtaining goods under false pretense, which was the first successful prosecution of a felony in the county.
LAST ASSOCIATE JUDGE
At the March term, 1845, Jonathan Garton became associate judge, and continued in this capacity with Judge Greer until the office was abolished by the adoption of the new Constitution in 1852. At this term James R. Slack, a Union general during the Rebellion and after- ward judge of the Twenty-eighth Judicial Circuit, acted as prosecut- ing attorney. He was a man of rugged sense and old-fashioned honesty.
At the August term, 1845, and March term, 1846, Elza A. Me- Mahon, afterward judge of this circuit, but long a resident of Min- nesota, acted as prosecuting attorney.
In 1847 Isaac Covert again became sheriff, but with this exception the same judges and officers continued until March, 1848, when Sam- uel G. Upton was commissioned prosecuting attorney. He was a straight dignified New Yorker, prematurely gray, but though his frosty head may have been the result of hard study, he never was a dangerous lawyer. He engaged for a number of years in editing and publishing the Bluffton Banner, and was for a time postmaster at this place, but ended his career about 1883 at New Orleans, Louisiana, at the advanced age of seventy-five years. In 1849 Isaac Covert re- tired from the shrievalty and was succeeded by Amza White.
Vol. 1-23
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JAMES L. WORDEN
At the December term, 1849, James L. Worden acted as prosecut- ing attorney. He was born in Massachusetts in 1819, but lost his father in infancy, removed to Portage County, Ohio, when a child, and was deprived of the advantages of an early education. 1Ie was largely self-taught, and moved to Indiana during his early manhood, where, by his real merits, he gained rapid promotions, first to the office of prosecuting attorney, next to the nisi prius bench, and afterward to the Supreme Bench of Indiana, where he remained nineteen years, and his opinions were so highly regarded that he was styled the "old reliable" and the "John Marshall" of that court.
At the March term, 1851, the accomplished and persuasive John R. Coffroth, who needs no introduction to our people, was admitted to practice before the Circuit Court. Judges L. M. Ninde, William W. Carson, Jacob M. Haynes and Isaac Jenkinson were admitted at the same time, and Benedict Burns was added as the fourth resident member of the bar.
OLD-TIME SPEEDY JUSTICE
At the March term, 1852, Amza White, an original character in his day, and Arthur W. Sanford, afterward a prominent clergyman of Marion, Indiana, but now of Michigan, were admitted to the force of local counsel. At this term James L. Worden acted as prosecuting attorney, and in March, 1853, he produced his commission and quali- fied as prosecutor. William Porter was then added to the list of resident attorneys. In the earlier court practice they disposed of business in a summary manner after the fashion of the old English "dusty foot" court, and, while it was rough on the victim, little com- plaint was made of the law's delay. One notable instance of this kind was the trial of Detro and Brown, in 1851, for the larceny of a horse belonging to Daniel Miller. They had taken the stolen property into Ohio. The vigilance committee got upon their trail, pursued them to near the City of Dayton, captured the thieves with their plunder, and re-crossed the state line without the aid of a requisition, brought the captives to Bluffton, and on the day of their arrival they were in- dieted, tried, convicted, and sentenced to the penitentiary; on the morning of the next day the sheriff started with his prisoners to Jef- fersonville to execute the judgment of the court. It was claimed that this was done in obedience to that clause in the organic law of the
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state which declares that "justice shall be administered speedily and without delay."
At the August term, 1853, Edwin R. Wilson was admitted and became a resident member of the bar. Michael Miller succeeded White as sheriff, and at the February term, 1854, Mr. Wilson became prose- euting attorney.
At the February term, 1855, his brother, John L. Wilson, recently on the Common Pleas Bench at Morrow, Ohio, was placed on the roll of local attorneys, and also the name of John N. Reynolds, an auctioneer and pettifogger of great tact, who "lost his grip" when he reached the Circuit Court.
At the August term, 1844, James L. Worden qualified as circuit judge, and in the November following George MeDowell, a brother of the late Hon. James F. McDowell, of Marion, succeeded Bowen HIale as clerk (who had retired after a service of seventeen years).
At the February term, 1857, Robert E. Hutcheson, afterward somewhat distinguished at the Columbus, Ohio, bar, was added to the list of resident counsel, but he remained only a brief time. At this term David T. Smith was admitted to practice.
JAMES F. MCDOWELL AND GEORGE S. BROWN
At the February term, 1858, Reuben J. Dawson, of Albion, In- diana, became circuit judge, James F. MeDowell, subsequently a mem- ber of Congress from this district and a man of charming eloquence, was admitted to the bar, and George S. Brown, a scholarly man of fine appearance, located here and was also admitted to the bar. He sub- sequently located at Huntington, Indiana, where he for a time was engaged in business with Col. L. P. Milligan, one of the finest logicians of the Wabash Valley, and thence moved to Topeka, Kansas, where in the midst of an extensive and growing practice he died of cancer.
During this year Newton Burwell, a fluent speaker, ready writer and well-read man, was admitted to the bar, and for many years was identified with much important litigation in our courts, but the hand of business adversity was laid heavily upon him, and after fol- lowing a diversity of pursuits and rowing against the tide, he at last took up the line of march and drifted to Rapid City, Dakota. At this term Nicholas Van Horn commenced the practice here, but being of a somewhat notional disposition, he alternately became lawyer, preacher and doctor, and later tried his hand at a variety of voca- tions in Texas.
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THE MURPHY-FREEMAN TRIAL
During this term one of the most important criminal trials oc- eurred that has ever transpired in the history of the county. One Moses T. Murphy, a merchant of Vera Cruz, had gone into the country for the purpose of procuring teams to haul wheat to Fort Wayne, and while in the woods between the residences of John Linn and Ilarvey Risley, he was slain. His continued absence excited the sus- pieion of his family, friends and neighbors, who instituted a thorough search for him. His body was found with marks of violence upon his head, indicating that he had been felled by some blunt instrument, and upon closer inspection it was ascertained that his jugular vein was severed. A club bespattered with blood and hair was also found near the body. Suspicion at once, whether justly or otherwise, rested upon Dr. William Freeman, who was Mr. Murphy's neighbor. He was arrested and indieted for the erime, and after an exciting trial, was acquitted. The case was ably prosecuted by Sanford J. Stoughton, prosecuting attorney, assisted by Messrs. Ninde and Wilson, and was defended by Messrs. MeDowell, Milligan and Coffroth.
JUDGE EDWIN R. WILSON
Edwin R. Wilson became judge at the December term, 1858, and James M. Defrees, of Goshen, prosecuting attorney. Thomas L. Wis- ner became elerk in November, 1859.
At the February term, 1860, John Colerick, a man of magnetic and persuasive eloquence, succeeded to the office of prosecutor, and in February, 1861, was in turn succeeded by Augustus A. Chapin, after- ward judge of the Allen Superior Court.
On August 23, 1861, Thomas W. Wilson became a member of the Wells County Bar, and Nathaniel De Haven became sheriff. In No- vember, 1864, James H. Schell became prosecutor and in the follow- ing February Robert Lowry, a member of the Forty-eighth and Forty- ninth Congresses from the Fort Wayne District, took his seat upon the bench.
WHOLESALE DIVORCE BUSINESS
The chief business transacted in the courts of this county from the year 1861 to 1867 inclusive, was by some general divorce agent residing at Fort Wayne, who operated for the Middle, Eastern and
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New England states and Canada. Divorces under the lax laws then existing were ground out by the half-bushel.
COURT CHANGES, 1865-84
Judge Lowry served until April, 1873, when he was succeeded by Jacob M. Haynes, who continued until November, 1878, when his successor, James R. Bobo, qualified, and continued as such until April, 1885, at which time he was succeeded by Henry B. Sayler. James R. McCleery succeeded Wisner as clerk in November, 1867, and con- tinued as such until his death in April, 1875. Thomas L. Wisner was commissioned as his successor and held until November, 1875. Wil- liam J. Craig was clerk from November, 1875, to November, 1883, when John H. Ormsby was appointed. Manuel Chalfant was sheriff from 1865 to 1867 and from 1869 to 1871, Isaiah J. Covault from 1867 to 1869 and from 1871 to 1873, William W. Wisell from 1873 to 1877, James B. Plessinger from 1877 to 1881, Marcellus M. Justus from 1881 to 1885, when Henry Kirkwood was elected sheriff. This court was supplied with the following prosecutors during the interim named : Thomas W. Wilson from November, 1866, to November, 1868; Joseph S. Dailey, from November, 1868, to November, 1876; Joshua Bishop from November, 1876, to November, 1877; Luther I. Baker from 1877 to 1880; John T. France from November, 1880, to November, 1884, when Edwin C. Vaughn became prosecutor.
CRIMES AGAINST LIFE
Writing in 1887 a Wells County historian says: "At the Novem- ber term, 1870, James Gillen was tried for the murder of William J. MeCleery, but was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for twelve years. It was a case that created great ex- citement and much interest, and was ably conducted by both sides, but as most of the actors in that forensie contest are yet living, the writer deems it proper not to particularize in the matter. The usually quiet and law-abiding county of Wells has been at times under great ยท commotion by reason of homicides in her midst. In late years John Strode was tried for the murder of Daniel Miller, an old pioneer of the county; Mary M. Eddingfield for the alleged poisoning of her children; Frank Hoopengarner for killing Needham MeBride; George W. King for killing Martin Thayer, and William Walker for slaying George Shaw. Some of these cases were of great moral turpitude, and are a blotch upon the otherwise fair esenteheon of the county ;
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but a portion of the cases had many extenuating circumstances, and in the case of Hoopengarner the jury wisely found it to be one of justifiable homicide. The actors in these contests are nearly all upon the state, and for the reasons heretofore stated we will not individual- ize in reference to them.
THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS
"Under the present Constitution we had the anomaly, from 1853 to 1873, of a Court of Common Pleas erected and organized with almost concurrent jurisdiction with the Circuit Court, and during its existence it contained the following officers: Wilson B. Lough- ridge was judge from its organization to January, 1861, when he was succeeded by Joseph Brackenridge. James W. Borden became judge in January, 1865, and continued until January, 1868, when Robert S. Taylor, one of the learned and best equipped attorneys of this State, was commissioned his successor. David Studabaker suc- ceeded him in January, 1869, but resigned in September, 1869, and Robert S. Taylor was then re-appointed by Governor Baker. In Jan- uary, 1871, William W. Carson became judge, and in January, 1873, Samuel E. Sinclair was commissioned and held the office until it was abolished as a needless expense about three months thereafter. The prosecutors of this court were Benedict Burns, Newton Burwell, James G. Smith, David T. Smith, David Colerick, Joseph S. Dailey and Benjamin F. Ibach.
WELLS COUNTY BAR IN 1887
"During the first thirty years of our country's history the busi- ness transactions were small, and one order book of this court embraces all the civil and criminal causes there tried from its organization up to and including the January terms, 1859. During the subsequent period of our jurisprudence several parties were admitted to the bar, and for a time were engaged as counsel here, who no longer responded to the roll call. Among these were Thomas A. R. Eaton, now deceased and a most excellent citizen of the county, and William J. Bright, . who edited the Wells County Union. He was 'bright' by name and nature, but died at the beginning of his career in our midst. In 1863 Daniel J. Callen, an eloquent orator and 'word-painter,' came and practiced here, but soon returned to his native State, Ohio, which he for a time served with distinction in her legislative councils. Mr. Callen has been in his grave for the last decade. Benjamin G. Shinn,
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now a prominent lawyer of Hartford City, was admitted to the prac- tice here on September 19, 1865. Hon. Daniel Waugh, ex-judge of the Tipton and Howard circuit, was admitted May 22, 1866, with the well-known Jacob J. Todd, and James A. Cotton, May 20, 1867. William J. Davis, a graduate of Washington College, Pennsylvania, located here and was admitted to the bar in 1871, and Captain Wil- liam J. Hilligass in the year succeeding. Joseph W. Ady, who now enjoys a State-wide reputation in Kansas, was raised in Wells County and admitted to the bar, but shortly after this event obeyed the in- junction of the white-hatted philosopher who said, 'Young man, go West.'
"Our present bar comprises more than one-half of all the mem- bers who ever engaged as resident attorneys at this place, and em- braces the names of Edwin R. Wilson, David T. Smith, Joseph S. Dailey, Jacob J. Todd. Levi Mock, Augustus N. Martin (ex-reporter supreme court and ex-congressman), John K. Rinehart, James P. Hale, A. L. Sharpe, J. H. C. Smith, Homer L. Martin, Edwin C. Vaughn, Charles M. France, Mines W. Lee, George W. Kimble, David H. Swaim, William T. T. Swaim, Win. S. Silver, Asbury Duglay, Abram Simmons, Luther B. Simmons and Charles E. Lacey; and without particularizing, or making any invidious distinctions, the writer with confidence states that this list comprises a galaxy of attorneys as well equipped for the great work of the profession as can be found in any county of Indiana.
"Since the influx of railroads into the county in the autumn of 1869 the county has more than doubled in population and tripled in material wealth; 2,000 miles of open ditches have been constructed and many of turnpikes.
" All kinds of commercial pursuits are being actively conducted, and the county is rapidly gaining a front rank as an educated, enter- prising and public-spirited locality; and as a result of the growth and development of her material interests much litigation has neces- sarily followed in the last fifteen years. But the Wells County bar have been equal to the emergency, fully qualified for the great work they have been called upon to perform, and in their efforts to establish rights and redress wrongs they have been aided at all times by an intelligent and incorruptible judiciary."
THE BENCH AND BAR SINCE 1885
Since the foregoing was written, thirty years ago, the bench and bar of Wells County have made many steps forward. Judge Sayler,
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the last occupant of the Circuit bench mentioned served from April, 1885, to November, 1888, when he retired in favor of Joseph S. Dailey. The latter was promoted from the Circuit to the State Supreme bench in July, 1893, and Edwin C. Vaughn was appointed as his suc- cessor. Judge Vaughn served until 1906; Charles E. Sturgis was the incumbent for the six years' term, 1906-12, and William II. Eichhorn has served since the latter year, his term expiring in 1918.
The successive clerks and sheriffs have been noted in the roster of county officials, although legally and specifically they may be classed as court officials.
Within the past thirty years many able lawyers have practiced at the Wells County bar, some having graduated to the bench and others to high legislative bodies. Augustus N. Martin, who studied law with Jacob J. Todd and was afterward in partnership with him, became a member of the State Legislature and a reporter of the Su- preme Court of Indiana, and finally a representative in the Lower House of Congress, in which he served for six years. Mr. Martin died in 1901.
The prosecutors since 1901 have been as follows: John Burns, 1901-05; Ashley G. Emshwiller, 1905-09; Ethan W. Secrest, 1909-13; Lee F. Sprague, 1913-17; Orvid A. Pursley, 1917 --.
THE OLD COUNTRY DOCTOR
The physician has always had a large place in the community, and the old-time country doctor was especially near to the people of Wells County. Like the Good Samaritan, he never passed the sufferer because he had no fee. IIe took it as a matter of course that he was to go whenever called, without looking at the weather, considering the roads or the creeks, or even asking the reason why. And there 18 nothing to indicate that in the days of difficult travel and little shelter the applicant for medical or surgical relief was more considerate of the exposure of the doctor than he is today, when it is so much easier for the physician to reach the bedside of the siek either real or fancied.
DR. MELSHEIMER'S DESCRIPTION
Dr. C. T. Melsheimer, president of the old Wells County Medical Society when it was formed in 1878, who settled at Bluffton in 1844 as a practitioner and long continued as such, has drawn this etching of the typical country doctor with rare skill and evident sympathy. Ilere it is: "The Country doctor was a kind of medical nondescript
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in comparison with the members of the profession to-day. As a general thing, he had the greater part of his life's works before him, was full of energy, and possessed a surplus of vitality that required just such environments to keep him within the bounds of moral rectitude. He was very courteous to his patients, so much so, that all who were old enough he dignified as uneles and aunts, and few of the elders received the honors of grandparents. He had schooled him- self to coolness and deliberation amidst all the exeitements due to ae- cidents by 'flood or field.' Whatever misfortunes occurred were viewed as unavoidable under the circumstances, so far as he was eoneerned. With him the past was beyond his recall-the future he knew nothing about; but the ever present was his, and he utilized it in such a manner as to give the most satisfactory results. Ile was from the very nature of his surroundings a concentrated embodiment of all the specialties so markedly characteristic of the profession to-day, and was compelled to assume the role of physician, surgeon, obstetrician, dentist, anrist, oenlist and, if there had been occasion for the gyne- cologist, this would have been added as an appendix to his other duties. These various callings of his required quite a collection of drugs to meet the demand, and, together with a certain degree of self-reliance which isolation imparts, made him master of the situation in a vast majority of instanees. When contemplating a visit in the country, which was a daily occurrenee, he meant rough business and was pre- pared for it. Hence his usual outfit was an old slouched hat or cap that had borne the brunt of many exposures, and which adorned his head, while the lower extremities were encased in a pair of coarse stogy boots ; and the ever present green flannel leggings, as further pro- teetions against mud and water, together with the compulsory spur attached to the heel, completed the outfits. The protection of his body by some species of mathematical adaptability was made equal to the extremes, and the result was a kind of object that required a rapid evolution of Darwinism to bring him up to the present regulation standard. Thus equipped and armed with a portly pair of pill bags, he started on horseback upon his humane mission, over wagon tracks, along bridle paths, through slashes of water and mud midsides deep, and not unfrequently with no other directions than the blazed traek to the lonely cabin in the forest. At night the hiekory bark torch or the punctured tin lantern lighted with a tallow dip furnished a frail substitute for the light of the sun."
"Thus in brief," says Dr. Melsheimer, who was writing in 1887, "you have the biography of a pioneer physician from the pen of a junior member who participated in the events which the mutations of
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time had wrought some forty-three years ago, and were shrouded in the obscurities of the past until resurrected by one who stands a rep- resentative of that period without a constituency. In the providence of God all his co-laborers have laid down their burdens, and joined their kindred spirits across the dark waters of Lethe.
How IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO
"The contrast between the past and the present is so great that its reality appears 'like the baseless fabric of a vision that leaves no trace behind.' The steady hand of improvement has measurably de- stroyed the cause that annually furnished a very prolific harvest of miasmatie diseases to the physician. So, too, the wilderness has been converted into many fruitful fields. The old log cabin, that virtue of pioneer necessity, has long since given place to the more pretentious dwelling. An increasing commerce has demanded gravel roads instead of wagon tracks and bridle paths. And the intercourse of the outer world is maintained by railroads and telegraphs, through which dis- tance is diminished by the locomotive's flight and time annihilated by the electric flash. Numerous villages have sprung up as if by the hand of the magician, and the country is teeming with an intelligent and enterprising population that thus far has kept step in the progressive march of the nineteenth century."
PIONEER PHYSICIANS AND EARLY EPIDEMICS
The first physician in the chronological order was Dr. Joseph Knox, who immigrated to Wells County in 1829 and located near Murray on the farm subsequently owned by Henry Miller.
The second physician, Doctor Williams, located in the village of Murray in 1838. By what few settlers that neighborhood contained he had the reputation of being a successful practitioner. His death occurred a few years afterward in that place.
The third in the county was Dr. William Fellows, a regular prac- titioner, who was located some two miles south of Bluffton in 1838, on the farm now owned by David Studabaker.
The first epidemie of typhoid fever occurred in the fall and winter of 1845.
The first epidemie of scarlet fever occurred in the latter part of June, 1849.
First case of cholera (Asiatic), August 9, 1839, imported from Huntington, Indiana.
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First epidemic of measles in September, 1849. First case of small-pox in June, 1854, at Bluffton.
THE WELLS COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY
The Wells County Medical Society was organized April 9, 1878, with the following as its officers: Dr. C. T. Melsheimer, president ; Dr. T. H. Crosby, secretary ; Dr. Theodore Horton, treasurer; B. F. Cummins, Dr. W. R. S. Clark and Dr. L. A. Spaulding, censors. Per- haps of these first officials of the society, Doctor Horton was as widely known as any, since he had not only been practicing for thirty years, but had become prominent in the affairs of both Bluffton and the state. During the Civil war his speeches as a democrat opposed to the conflict had caused his arrest. The original society adopted the code of the American Medical Association and then, as now, was an auxiliary to the Indiana State Medical Society. Doctor Crosby, who died in 1883, came to Bluffton from Fort Wayne in 1848, and served as a surgeon in the Civil war. Doctor Clark, who had died in the previous year, was an Ohio physician until 1873, when he moved to Bluffton.
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