USA > Indiana > Allen County > Fort Wayne > Valley of the upper Maumee River, with historical account of Allen County and the city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Volume II > Part 55
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When Judge Borden retired from the circuit bench, the twelfth cir- cuit was still the same as when he became judge.
ELZA A. MC MAHON
became the president judge of the circuit in 1851, and remained the judge of the Allen circuit court until 1855. As already stated, he had been prosecuting attorney during the year 1846. He lived at Fort
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Wayne, having come from Ohio about 1845. He was about forty-two years of age when he went upon the bench and was unmarried. The writer is informed by a lawyer at Fort Wayne who knew him, that he was a fair lawyer, high-minded, and pleasant as a judge. Although delicate in health, and occasionally melancholy, he was at times witty and fond of humor. He was judge until 1855. A year after that, he removed to Minnesota, and died there about fifteen years ago, alinost a mental wreck. During the first year that he was judge, and until the statutes of 1852 went into effect, abolishing the office of associate judge, Nathaniel Coleman and Andrew Metzgar were associate judges. Dur- ing about three years of Judge McMahon's term, James L. Worden was prosecuting attorney. During the last year of that term Edwin R. Wilson filled that office.
During the term of Judge McMahon, by an act of the legislature, approved June 17, 1852, the state was re-districted for judicial purposes, and the tenth judicial circuit was formed, embracing the counties of Adams, Wells, Huntington, Wabash, Whitley, Allen, Noble, DeKalb, LaGrange, Steuben, Elkhart and Kosciusko. By the subsequent act of January 21, 1853, also during the term of Judge McMahon, the counties of Huntington and Wabash were taken from the tenth circuit and added to the eleventh circuit. Thus stood the tenth circuit in 1855, when JAMES L. WORDEN became the judge. As already stated, he had been prosecuting attorney during a part of the terms of Judges Borden and McMahon. He remained judge until 1858. During one year of his service EDWIN R. WILSON was prosecuting attorney. Dur- ing two years of his term S. J. STOUGHTON held that office. Mr. Stoughton lived at Auburn, DeKalb county. He subsequently removed to Ligonier, Noble county, and later, removed to the state of Kansas, where he died. REUBEN J. DAWSON was appointed by the governor in January, 1858, to fill out the unexpired term of Judge Worden, who had resigned. Of the former, a sketch is hereafter given. During the time he served upon the bench S. J. Stoughton was prosecuting attorney. In the fall of 1858,
EDWIN R. WILSON
was elected judge of the circuit, and remained the judge of the Allen circuit court until 1864. Judge Wilson was born on the 27th day of January, 1827, in Fairfield county, Ohio. His father was born in the north of Ireland, of Scotch parentage. His mother was born in Lan- caster, Penn. The parents, with the son, came to Indiana in 1840. Mr. Wilson studied law with Gov. Joseph A. Wright, and was licensed to practice at Indianapolis by Judge Wick and Delano R. Eckels in 1850. He located in Bluffton in Wells county in 1853. In the spring of 1854 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of the tenth circuit, to fill out the unexpired term of Hon. Jas. L. Worden, who had resigned. At the next general election, he was elected to the same office on the democratic ticket over Hon. John W. Dawson, the whig candidate.
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He was elected judge of the tenth circuit in the fall of 1858 on the republican ticket. After serving his term of six years upon the bench, he was appointed bank examiner for Indiana by President Johnson. After serving in that capacity for one year, he resigned because not in accord with the administration. In 1867 he removed to Madison, in Jefferson county, Ind., and engaged in the practice of the law as a partner of his brother, Maj. J. L. Wilson. He was elected to the state senate in the fall of 1878, and served for four years. In the fall of 1883 he moved back to Bluffton, where he has since been engaged in the prac- tice of the law as a member of the firm of Wilson & Todd. Judge Wilson was a young man when he entered official life, and when he went upon the bench, but he was studious and energetic, a successful and reputable lawyer, and a careful and acceptable judge.
JAMES L. DEFREESE, of Goshen, was elected prosecuting attorney of the circuit in 1858, and served for a short time while Judge Wilson - was upon the bench. He died in the early part of 1859, and Mr. JOHN COLERICK, of Fort Wayne, of whom further mention will be made in subsequent pages, was appointed to fill out his term. Assuming that Mr. Colerick's appointment expired with the fall election in 1859, Mr. Moses Jenkinson, of Fort Wayne, and G. D. Copeland, were candi- dates at that election for the office, and Mr. Jenkinson, having received . a majority of the votes, claimed to have been elected to the office. The governor, however, decided that Mr. Colerick should fill out the unex- pired term for which Mr. Defreese had been elected, viz., until the gen- eral election in 1860.
Mr. JENKINSON, on his father's side, was of English, and on his mother's side of French, origin. His father was an officer in the war of 1812. In 1825 he was engaged in a commercial enterprise which took him to New Orleans, where he died with the yellow fever. The sub- ject of this sketch was but fifteen years old at the time of his father's death, having been born in Cincinnati on the 5th day of November, 1810. Upon the death of his father, it became necessary for the son to help support the family by his labor. His mother was a lady of cultured intellect, and resolute of spirit, and inspired the son with a laudable am- bition. He devoted his early years to the aid of his mother and the acquiring of an education. He commenced the practice of the law in Fort Wayne about the year 1840. He was a man of quick perceptions, and rapid in his actions both physically and mentally, and hence capable of much work. He was a successful lawyer, and universally liked by his brethren of the bar, and the people. In addition to being a success- ful lawyer, he was an enterprising business man, and was largely identi- fied with the growth of the city. In 1861 he was elected a member of the legislature and continued such for two years, and made an efficient member. He died on the Ist day of November, 1865, after a brief ill- ness. Upon the announcement of his death to the courts, by the late Hon. David H. Colerick, they adjourned in respect to his memory, and
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the bar, at a subsequent meeting, resolved to attend his funeral in a body, and wear a badge of mourning for thirty days.
From October, 1860, to October, 1862, during the term of Judge Wilson, AUGUSTUS A. CHAPIN, then a resident of Kendallville, in Noble county, of whom montion is made hereafter, was prosecuting attorney. During the last two years of his term, JAMES H. SCHELL, then a resident of Goshen, the county seat of Elkhart county, was prosecuting attorney. When elected, Mr. Schell was a young man, and full of promise. He was a man of good ability, well equiped for the duties of the profession, and was a successful prosecuting attorney. He was twice elected to the office and served for two terms of two years each. During his incumbency in office, he became a resident of Fort Wayne, and engaged in the gen- eral practice of the law. His health soon gave way, and he died several years ago, at a time when he ought to have been in the strength and vigor of mature manhood. In 1864
HON. ROBERT LOWRY,
then a resident of Goshen, of whom mention is made hereafter, was elected judge of the tenth circuit, composed of the same counties that constituted the circuit during the incumbency of Judges Worden, Dawson and Wilson.
The circuit remained the same until the IIth day of March, 1867, when the counties of Elkhart, LaGrange, Steuben, DeKalb, Noble and Kosciusko were, by an act of the legislature, taken from the tenth cir- cuit and made to constitute a new circuit, thus leaving the tenth circuit embracing the counties of Allen, Whitley, Wells and Adams. Prior to the passage of that act, Judge Lowry had become a resident of Fort Wayne, and thus remained a resident within the tenth circuit. By an act of the legislature approved May 5, 1869, the tenth circuit was made. to embrace, besides the counties above named, the county of Hunting- ton. By an act approved December 14, 1872, Huntington county was taken from the tenth circuit and made a part of a new circuit. By an act approved March 6, 1873, the state was re-districted, and the coun- ties of Allen and Whitley were constituted the thirty-eighth judicial cir- cuit. By an act approved March 9, 1875, Allen county was constituted the thirty-eighth judicial circuit, and so remains (1889). Judge Lowry remained the judge of the several circuits of which Allen county was a part, until 1875, when he resigned to resume the practice of the law at Fort Wayne. For two years of the time that he was judge, James H. Schell, above mentioned, was prosecuting attorney.
In 1866, T. M. WILSON, then an attorney at Bluffton, was elected prosecuting attorney for the circuit. He was then a young man, having been admitted to the bar in 1863, but filled the office with ability and credit. He continued to reside and practice law at Bluffton until a few years ago, when he located at Fort Wayne, and is now (1889), engaged in the practice of the law in that city.
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In 1868, when Wells county was in the tenth circuit with Allen county, JOSEPH S. DAILY, of Bluffton, was elected prosecuting attorney. He was re-elected in 1870, and in 1872. Under his last election he was the prosecuting attorney for the Allen circuit court, until, by an act of the legislature, approved March 6, 1873, Allen and Wells counties became parts of different circuits. When he was elected he was a young man, but able and energetic. Since then he has resided at Bluff- ton, and has been one of the leading lawyers. At different times he has been a member of the legislature. Some years ago he was nomi- nated for congress, but was defeated along with his party. In 1886, he was elected judge of the circuit court for the circuit embracing the counties of . Wells and Huntington, and is now (1889), serving as such to the entire satisfaction of the bar and people. As has been seen by the act of March 6, 1873, re-districting the state for judicial purposes, Allen and Whitley counties became the thirty-eighth judicial circuit. By reason of Wells county being thus disconnected from Allen, and Mr. Daily being a resident of the former county, the thirty-eighth circuit was left without a prosecuting attorney.
To fill that vacancy Governor Hendricks, on the 29th day of March, 1873, appointed JACOB R. BITTINGER, of Fort Wayne, to serve until the succeeding election. The act provided that an election should be held in the proper counties on the second Tuesday of October, 1873, to elect judges and prosecuting attorneys in place of such judges and . prosecuting attorneys as might, at that time, be holding by ap- pointment of the governor. An election was accordingly held, and Mr. Bittinger was elected prosecuting attorney of the thirty-eighth judicial circuit, and commissioned to serve for two years from the 27th day of October, 1873. That was a special election, as by an act ap- proved April 26, 1869, the general elections, commencing with 1870, were to be held each two years thereafter. It was provided in that act that at such general elections all offices, the terms of which "will expire be- fore the next general election thereafter, shall be filled," etc. In 1874, Mr. Bittinger was renominated, and, at the general election that year, re-elected and commissioned to serve for two years from the 27th day of October, 1875, the end of the term for which he had been commis- sioned in 1873. It will thus be seen that during about two years of the latter part of Judge Lowry's service upon the circuit bench, Mr. Bittin- ger was prosecuting attorney. He served under his last commission until the 27th day of October, 1877, with credit to himself and accepta- bly to the public. At the present time he is the attorney appointed by the circuit court to defend, in that court, all accused persons who have no means of employing counsel.
Upon the resignation of Judge Lowry, Hon. WILLIAM W. CARSON, of whom further notice will be given in this work, was appointed by Governor Hendricks to serve as judge of the circuit until the succeed- ing general election in 1876.
At the general election referred to, Hon. EDWARD O'ROURKE was
.
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elected judge of the Allen circuit court. He is still on the bench, hav- ing been elected for the third term of six years each, in 1888. Of him a proper notice appears later.
In 1876, JAMES F. MORRISON was elected prosecuting attorney for the circuit court for a term of two years, commencing on the 27th day of October, 1877. He served that term and was re-elected for a term of two years, to commence in October, 1879. . On November 6, ISSO, he resigned the office and removed to Kokomo, the county seat of Howard county, where he has since been engaged in the practice of the law.
Upon the resignation of Mr. Morrison, C. M. DAWSON, of Fort Wayne, was appointed by Governor Williams to serve for the balance of his term. At the October election of that year, Mr. Dawson had been elected prosecuting attorney for a term of two years to commence in October, ISSI. In 1881, a constitutional amendment was adopted and a law enacted, fixing the annual general elections on the first Tues- day after the first Monday in November, 1882, and biennially thereafter. That change in the time of general elections necessarily extended Mr. Dawson's term under his election, until the general election in Novem- ber, 1883. The act of 188I, like the act of 1869, above mentioned, provided that at such general elections, " all offices, the terms of which will expire before the next general election, shall be filled," etc. At the . general election in 1882, Mr. Dawson was elected for a term to com- mence in November, 1883; and again at the general election in 1884, he was electecd for a term to end in November, 1887. Under the appoint- ment, and his several elections, Mr. Dawson served as prosecuting attor- ney for about seven years. When he was elected, and during a part of his first term, there was a criminal court in Allen county, having exclus- ive criminal jurisdiction, and a separate judge and prosecuting attorney; but by an act of the legislature, approved on the 12th day of April, ISS2, the duties of the prosecuting attorney of that court were devolved upon the prosecuting attorney of the circuit court, after the expiration of the term for which the prosecuting attorney of the former court had been elected. In Allen county, the term of the prosecuting attorney of the criminal court expired with the general election in November, 1882. After that election, therefore, it became the duty of Mr. Dawson to prosecute the pleas of the state in the criminal court. As prosecuting attorney, he did himself credit, and was entirely satisfactory to the peo- ple. He is a son of Judge Dawson, already mentioned. He has spent most of his life, and all of his business life, in Fort Wayne, where he is now engaged in the general practice of the law. He graduated from the Albany, N. Y., law school in May, 1877. He is a vigorous man, physi- cally and mentally, and is now in the prime of life.
At the November election in 1886, JAMES M. ROBINSON was elected prosecuting attorney for the circuit court for a term of two years, to commence in November, 1887. At the general election in November, 1888, he was elected for a second term, to commence in November, 1889.
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He is now in the discharge of the duties of the office. He has made an efficient prosecuting attorney, and met fully the expectations of his most ardent friends. Mr. Robinson is a, young man yet, and is entitled to much credit for what he has made of himself, being a self-made man. He is a careful and painstaking lawyer, and a forcible advocate.
PROBATE COURTS.
An act of the legislature, approved on the 29th day of January, IS29, provided for the establishment of a probate court in each county of the state, the judge of which was to be elected by the people of the county. It was not required that the judge should be a " professional character," but in order to receive a commission from the governor he was required to produce a certificate by a judge of a circuit court, or of the supreme court, that he was qualified to discharge the duties of the office. A more elaborate act upon the same subject was approved on the roth day of February, 1831, and carried into the revised statutes of that year.
WILLIAM G. EWING became probate judge in Allen county in 1830, and served for three years, when he resigned the office. As stated early in this article, he had been admitted to the bar at the first term of the Allen circuit court, in 1824. He was a brother of Judge Charles W. Ewing. He did not devote much time to the law, but early went into business with his brother, George W. Ewing, and accumulated a fortune.
In 1834 HUGH MCCULLOCH became judge of the probate court and served as such for about one year, when he resigned the office. He graduated from Bowdoin college in 1826. After having taught school for some time he commenced the study of law, and completed his course in Boston in 1832. In April, 1833, he came west, and after spending a few weeks in the office of Judge Sullivan, at Madison, Ind., he went to Indianapolis, and was admitted to the bar of the supreme court. He came from Indianapolis to Fort Wayne on horseback and liking the place, and believing that it had a promising future, determined to remain there. The State Bank of Indiana, chartered in 1833, was organized for business in 1834. In 1835 a branch was established at Fort Wayne, and Mr. McCulloch was soon appointed its cashier and manager. We cannot here trace the subsequent career of Mr. McCul- loch until he became secretary of the United States treasury, and one of the most capable and widely known financiers of the country. His appointment as cashier and manager of the Fort Wayne branch of the State Bank, took him from the law, and the office of probate judge, to which he had been elected.
In the latter part of 1835 Gov. Noble appointed THOMAS JOHNSON probate judge to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Mc- Culloch. He presided as probate judge until August, 1836, when his successor was elected. Mr. Johnson at that time was a young man and
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lawyer of much promise. The year after he ceased to be probate judge he became prosecuting attorney of the circuit court, and served as such for two years. He was born on a farm near Chester, in Delaware county, Penn., on the 26th day of July, 1807. At an early age he moved with his parents to Belmont county, Ohio, where he commenced the study of the law. In 1832, at Richmond, Ind., he was admitted to the bar, soon after which he became a resident of Fort Wayne, and engaged in the practice of the law. He started in life without money or other help ex- cept his own resources. By his ability, unbending integrity and industry he soon acquired a large practice, an honorable position and a competency. Courteous and gentlemanly in his deportment, generous and charitable toward the failings of others, he had no enemies, and was esteemed by all who knew him. He was an estimable man and a good citizen. He died on the 18th day of September, 1843, from the effects of a cold which he had contracted but a few days before his death, in returning with Lucien P. Ferry from Bluffton, where they had been in attendance at court. On the day following his death, the late Hon. D. H. Colerick announced the fact to the Huntington circuit court, when it adjourned in respect to his memory. A bar meeting was at once called, at which Mr. Henry Cooper of Fort Wayne presided, and Lucien P. Ferry of the same place acted as secretary. Messrs. Colerick, William H. Coombs, of Fort Wayne, and the late Gen. James R. Slack, of Huntington, were appointed a committee to prepare suitable resolutions, expressive of the esteem in which Judge Johnson was held by the court and bar, and of their sorrow and condolence with the bereaved family. Of the lawyers who acted as officers of that meeting, and prepared the resolutions, all have followed Judge Johnson to the great court of final reward, except Judge Coombs, who is still living in Fort Wayne, in retirement and in ripe old age.
Mr. Johnson's widow remained a respected resident of Fort Wayne, until her death a short time ago. His daughter, Miss Lizzie Johnson, still resides at Fort Wayne.
In August, 1836, LUCIEN P. FERRY was elected probate judge for a term of seven years. He discharged the duties of the office until February, 1840, when he resigned. The same year in which he re- signed the office of probate judge he became prosecuting attorney of the circuit court and served as such for about one year. He, too, was a young man and a lawyer of promise. In 1844 he died at the early age of thirty-three years. His family for years after his death resided in Fort Wayne. His widow is still a resident here. One of his sons lives at Seattle, and has just been elected (1889) governor of the new state of Washington. Upon the resignation of Mr. Ferry as judge of the probate court, REUBEN J. DAWSON, already mentioned as judge of the circuit court at a subsequent date, succeeded him, and held the position until the 9th day of November, 1840.
He was succeeded at that time by SAMUEL STOPHLET, who held the position until 1844, when he resigned. Mr. Stophlet was not a lawyer. In the language of the act creating the court, he was not " a professional
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character." He died many years ago, a reputable citizen of Fort Wayne.
Upon the resignation of Mr. Stophlet, Gov. Whitcomb appointed GEORGE JOHNSON probate judge. He held under that appointment until August, 1844, when he was elected to the office by the people. He held the position under that election until 1847, when he resigned. He was esteemed as a most worthy and intelligent young man. After his resignation he seems to have turned his attention to theology. While attending a course of theological studies at Gambier, Ohio, in December, 1850, he lost his life by the accidental discharge of a gun.
In 1847, NELSON MCLAIN became judge of the probate court, and served as such until the establishment of the common pleas court under an act of 1852, and the transfer to that court of all probate business. Mr. McLain was not a lawyer.
COURTS OF COMMON PLEAS.
Prior to the general act of the legislature creating courts of common pleas in all the counties of the state, there were a number of special acts creating, regulating, and abolishing such courts in different coun- ties. For example, by an act approved on the 18th day of January, 1848, such a court was established in Tippecanoe county. By an act approved January 5, 1852, that court was abolished. By an act approved on the 4th day of January, 1849, such a court was created in Marion county, and by an act approved January 12, 1852, it was abolished. By a general act approved on the 14th day of May, 1852, courts of common pleas were created in all the counties of the state, and the coun- ties of Allen, Adams, Huntington and Wells were constituted a district. The act provided for the election of a judge at the October election in 1852, and fixed the tenure of the office at four years. The act also gave to the court'exclusive probate jurisdiction.
At the October election in 1852 Hon. JAMES W. BORDEN, already mentioned, was elected common pleas judge of the district of which Allen county was a part, as above stated, and he opened the court in Allen county on the 3rd day of January, 1853. He was re-elected in 1856, and held the office until 1857, when he resigned. As we have seen, the act creating the court gave it exclusive jurisdiction of probate business. But as prior acts had clothed the circuit court with probate jurisdiction in certain cases, an act was passed on the 14th day of Janu- ury, 1853, transferring to the common pleas court all probate business pending in the probate and circuit courts.
Upon the resignation of Judge Borden, in 1857, Hon. JOSEPH BRACKENRIDGE, already mentioned, was appointed judge to serve until the succeeding election. At the general election in October, 1858, he was elected to fill out the unexpired term for which Judge Borden had been elected in 1856. Under that election he held the office until the general election in October, 1860, when he was elected for a full term
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of four years, and held the office until the general election in 1864. A more extended notice of Judge Brackenridge is given elsewhere. At the October election in 1864, Judge Borden was again elected judge of. the common pleas court, and held the office until the 29th day of October, 1867, when he resigned.
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