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 56
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Upon his resignation, Governor Baker appointed ROBERT S. TAY- LOR, of Fort Wayne, of whom a further notice will be given, to serve as judge of the court until a successor should be elected and qualified.
At the October election in 1868, Hon. DAVID STUDEBAKER, of De- catur, the county seat of Adams county, was elected judge of the com- mon pleas court. He held the position until 1870, when he resigned. Mr. Studebaker, had for years been a resident of Decatur, engaged in the general practice of the law. Since his retirement from the bench he has been a resident of that place, and engaged in the practice of the law, banking and other business enterprises. He is a good lawyer, and while upon the bench, gave general satisfaction to the bar and the people. Added to this, he is a man of good character, and a valuable citizen.
Upon his resignation Hon. WILLIAM W. CARSON, already mentioned, was elected to fill out the term which expired with the October election in 1872.
At that election, SAMUEL E. SINCLAIR was elected for a term of four years. He held the position until March, 1873, when the court was abolished by an act of the legislature. Judge Sinclair was born in Fort Wayne in 1840. His father was one of the pioneer settlers and a wor- thy and respected citizen. He was elected clerk of the circuit court in 1853, and died in office, after having served less than one year. The subject of this brief sketch was thus left at the age of thirteen to make his way without the aid and influence of a father. He early determined to prepare himself for the law, and after availing himself of such ad- vantages as the public schools afforded, he entered the law school at Albany, N. Y., and having pursued the prescribed course, graduated from that institution. Before returning, however, he was admitted to the bar of the court of appeals, the highest court in New York. He commenced the practice of the law at Fort Wayne about 1868, and was soon afterward appointed deputy prosecuting attorney. In 1880 he was elected a member of the legislature, and served for one term. Soon after his return from that service, he was appointed by the circuit court to defend, in that court, such accused persons as were not able to employ counsel. Except during the time that he was on the bench, he was engaged in the general practice of the law at Fort Wayne. Judge Sin- clair filled the public positions to which he was elected with credit and fidelity. He was a man firm and outspoken in his convictions, brave and just with his fellows, and gentle, sympathizing and generous to the poor and afflicted. To his friends he was loyal and faithful. He died
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on the 25th day of March, 1887, greatly lamented by his relatives, friends and all who knew him.
An act approved June 11, 1852, provided for the election of district prosecuting attorneys, at the October election in that year, who should hold their offices for two years, and prosecute the pleas of the state in the common pleas courts of such districts. At that election David Stu- debaker, already mentioned, was elected prosecuting attorney for the district of which Allen county was a part, as above stated, and served during the term of two years.
At the October election in 1854, JOSEPH BRACKENRIDGE, already mentioned, was elected prosecuting attorney for the district, and served as such until 1856. At the October election in that year, W. B. SPENCER was elected prosecuting attorney for the district, and served for one year.
At the October election in 1857, WILLIAM S. SMITH was elected to that office, and served for one year, the unexpired term for which Spen- , cer had been elected. Mr. Smith was born at Harper's Ferry, Va., in 1816. His father died when he was a young boy. The necessities of his mother required that he should go to work at once, and help provide for the family. He procured work with a gunsmith, and never had an opportunity to go to school. During his early manhood he worked at at his trade of gunsmithing at Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1845, 1846 and 1847, he was a member of the Ohio legislature from the Cincinnati dis- trict. Subsequent to that, he moved to St. Mary's, Ohio, and became mayor of that town. He came to Fort Wayne on the 3d day of August, 1853, where he continued to reside until his death on the 21st day of May, 1868. Having been deprived of the advantages of an education in youth, Mr. Smith resolved to educate himself, which he did, while working at his trade. Prior to coming to Fort Wayne, and after that time, he studied law while working at his trade. After the expiration of his term as prosecuting attorney, he devoted himself to the general practice of the law, and in 1861 was elected city attorney for the city of Fort Wayne, and served as such for two years. Soon after the beginning of the late war, he was appointed enrolling and draft commissioner, and served as such until the close of the war. After that, he again engaged in the general practice of the law, and was so engaged until his health gave way, a short time before his death. Mr. Smith was a forcible pub- lic speaker, and took an active part in many political campaigns.
At the October election in 1858, JOHN COLERICK, already mentioned, was elected prosecuting attorney for the common pleas court, for a term of two years, ending with the general election in October, 1860. He held the office until May, 1859, when he resigned to accept the position of prosecuting attorney for the circuit court, tendered him by Gov. Willard.
Upon his resignation, JOSEPH S. FRANCE, of whom a further notice will be found in a subsequent part of this work, was appointed to act as such prosecuting attorney until the following election. At the October
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election in 1859, he was elected to serve out the remainder of the time for which Mr. Colerick had been elected.
At the October election in 1860, Mr. D. T. SMITH was elected prose- cuting attorney for the common pleas district, of which Allen county was a part. Mr. Smith was then a young man and lawyer, residing at Bluff- ton. He filled the position with credit until the end of his two years' term. He is still residing at Bluffton, engaged in the general practice of the law.
At the October election in 1862, Mr. DAVID COLERICK, of Fort Wayne, was elected prosecuting attorney, the district being the same as formerly. He was re-elected in 1864, and served until the October election, 1866. Mr. Colerick was a son of the late Hon. David H. Col- erick, a brother of Hon. John Colerick, who died in 1872, and of Hon. Walpole G. Colerick, and Messrs. Henry and Philemon B. Colerick. He studied law with his father, and in subsequent years, and until the death of his brother, the Hon. John Colerick, was a partner with him in the practice of the law. Mr. Colerick was a young man of fine tal- ents, generous impulses, and pleasing and affable manners. As prose- cuting attorney he was, though young, able and efficient. He died on the Ioth day of June, 1872, at the early age of about thirty-two years.
At the October election in 1866, Mr. JOSEPH S. DAILY, of Bluff- ton, of whom mention has already been made, was elected prosecuting attorney for the common pleas court. He held that position until the end of his term in 1868.
At the October election in 1868, Mr. BENJAMIN F. IBACH, of Hun- tington, the county seat of Huntington county, was elected to the office. He was re-elected in 1870, and held the office until the October elec- tion in 1872. Mr. Ibach was then a young man, but discharged the duties of the office with ability, fidelity and efficiency. He still resides at Huntington, engaged in the practice of the law. For many years he has been the city attorney for Huntington. In 1886 he was elected a member of the legislature from the counties of Allen and Huntington, and made a careful and valuable member.
At the October election of 1872, JACOB R. BITTENGER, of whom mention has already been made, was elected to the office for a term of two years, and held the position until the office, and the common pleas court, were abolished by the act of March 6, 1873.
CRIMINAL COURT OF ALLEN COUNTY.
By an act approved on the 11th day of May, 1867, a criminal court was established in Allen county, with exclusive criminal jurisdiction. The act provided for a judge and prosecuting attorney for that court, and also provided for the appointment of those officers by the governor until the next ensuing general election. In pursuance of the act the governor, soon after its passage, appointed JAMES A. FAY, of whom further notice is given hereafter, judge, to hold the office until the election and qualifi-
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cation of a successor. At the October election in 1867, Judge James W. Borden, already mentioned, was elected judge of the court for a term of four years. It was by reason of that election that he resigned his place on the bench of the common pleas court. His term extended until 1871, but by reason of the annual election having been dispensed with by the act of 1869, already mentioned, it became necessary to elect a judge of the criminal court at the general election in 1870, whose term should commence in October, 1871. At that election Hon. Joseph Brackenridge, already mentioned, was elected judge, and held the office until October, 1875. At the general election in 1874, Judge Borden was again elected judge, and was re-elected in 1878, for a term of four years He died in office on the 26th day of April, 1882.
The Hon. WARREN H. WITHERS, of whom more adequate mention will be given hereafter, was appointed judge of the criminal court, by Governor Porter, a few days after the death of Judge Borden, to serve until the election and qualification of a successor.
At the November election in 1882, SAMUEL M. HENCH, of whom more will be said hereafter, was elected judge of the criminal court, and held the office until the 3Ist day of October, 1884, at which time the court ceased to exist, by virtue of an act of the legislature, approved February 27, 1883.
At the time the governor appointed Mr. Fay judge of the criminal court, he also appointed Robert S. Taylor, before mentioned, prosecut- ing attorney of that court, with a like term. At the October election in 1867, Edward O'Rourke, of whom mention has already been made, was elected prosecuting attorney of that court, for a term to end in October, 1869. But as there was no election in that year, by reason of the change in the election laws in 1869, he held over until the elec- tion in 1870. At the October election in the latter year, he was re- elected and served the full term. At the October election of 1872, JOSEPH S. FRANCE, of whom mention has already been made, was elected prosecuting attorney of the criminal court. He died in July, 1874, before the expiration of the term, and Samuel M. Hench, of whom mention has been made, was appointed by Gov. Hendricks on the 16th day of July, 1874, to serve until the election of a successor. Having been nominated for the office by the democratic county convention in June of that year, he was elected to the office at the succeeding October elections. In 1876 and in 1878 he was re-elected, and, a contro- versy having arisen as to the length of the term as fixed by the statute, he held the office under his last election until the Ioth day of Janu- ary, 1881.
At the October election, in IS80, WILLIAM S. O'ROURKE was elected prosecuting attorney of the criminal court, and served as such until November, 1882, the end of the term for which he had been elected, and until the office of prosecuting attorney for the criminal court ceased to exist by virtue of the act approved April 12, 1881, already mentioned. Mr. O'Rourke was quite a young man when he was elected
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to the responsible position, and had but recently been admitted to the bar. He was, however, a young man of ability, energy and integrity, and made a good prosecuting attorney. Shortly after quitting the office he was appointed to the responsible position of attorney for the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad company in Indiana, and filled the place with ability and success until about August, 1889, when he removed to Chattanooga, Tenn., where he is now engaged in the general practice of the law. Mr. O'Rourke is a son of Mr. Patrick S. O'Rourke, of Fort Wayne, superintendent of that portion of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad which is in Indiana, extending from the state line on the north to Richmond, south. He was born in Fort Wayne, and was educated there and in Pennsylvania. He also graduated from the law department of the university of Michigan.
SUPERIOR COURT OF ALLEN COUNTY.
The superior court of Allen county was established by an act of the legislature approved on the 5th day of March, 1877. Soon after the passage of the act, Gov. Williams appointed Allen Zollars judge of the court, but as the act was not to take effect until the following Angust, the commission was not issued until the 7th day of that month. Under that commission Mr. Zollars would have been entitled to hold the office until the October election in 1878. After hearing some habeas corpus cases in vacation, he formally opened the court on the 10th day of Sep- tember, 1877, and presided until about the 20th day of the month, when he resigned and resumed the practice.
Upon his resignation, Hon. ROBERT LOWRY, already mentioned, was appointed judge of the court, and held the office until the general election in October, 1878. At that time he was elected by the people for a term of four years, and held the office until after the general elec- tion in November, 1882.
At that election, Hon. JAMES L. WORDEN, already mentioned, was elected judge for a term of four years. He died on the 2d day of June, 1884. On the 15th day of the same month, Hon. LINDLEY M. NINDE, of whom further notice will be taken hereafter, was appointed judge by Governor Porter, to serve until the general election in November of the same year. His successors, S. M. HENCH and AUGUSTUS A. CHAPIN, are both mentioned further on in this work.
The biographical sketches of lawers following were not written by Judge Zollars, except that of Judge Worden. They were prepared at the instance of the publishers.
James Lorenzo Worden was born on the Ioth day of May, 1819, in Sandisfield, Berkshire county, Mass., the son of John and Jane Worden. His father died when he was about eight years old, and a year or two later he moved with his mother to Portage county, Ohio. His youth was spent upon a farm, where he had the benefit of a common school education, and devoted himself, to some extent, to literary pursuits. He began the study of law at the age of nineteen, and in 1839 entered the office of Thomas T. Straight, at Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1841 he was ad-
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mitted to the bar of the supreme court of Ohio, at Lancaster, and for two or three years thereafter, was in the practice at Tiffin, Ohio. In the spring of 1844 he removed to Columbia City, in Whitley county, Ind., and opened a law office. In the presidential campaign of that year he took quite an active part, being then as he continued to be through life, a democrat.
In the spring of 1845 he was married to Miss Anna Grable, the daughter of Benjamin Grable, then county treasurer of Whitley county, and an honorable and estimable citizen. Through the remainder of his life, the wife shared with him his successes and disappointments, what- ever they may have been, and is still a resident of Fort Wayne. She is now, and always has been, very highly respected by all who have known her, for her ability, culture, and refinement, and for her estimable qualities as a wife, mother, citizen, neighbor, and friend. In the fall of 1845 Mr. Worden removed to Albion, in Noble county. He soon be- came known there, and acquired as good a practice as the county afforded. In 1848, while a resident of Albion, he won quite a reputa- tion, and made friends in Fort-Wayne by the brilliant manner in which he conducted the prosecution of a man who had been indicted for mur- der in Noble county, and had taken a change of venue to Allen county. In conseqence of the solicitations of these new friends, he removed to Fort Wayne in 1849, where he resided until his death. In 1850 he was elected prosecuting attorney for the twelfth judicial circuit, embracing the counties of Allen, Adams, Wells, Huntington, Whitley, Noble, Steuben, LaGrange and DeKalb, and held the office for three years.
Two years after his election, the state was redistricted for judicial purposes, and Allen county became a part of the tenth circuit, which embraced the counties of Adams, Wells, Huntington, Wabash, Whitley, Allen, Noble, DeKalb, LaGrange, Steuben, Elkhart and Kosciusko. A year later, the counties of Huntington and Wabash were taken from the circuit. Of that circuit, Mr. Worden was appointed judge, by Gov. Joseph A. Wright, in 1855, to fill a vacancy. At the general election that year he was elected judge of the circuit for a full term of six years, without opposition. Judge Worden was a lawyer and not a politician, and hence did not desire an office which would take him from the pro- fession. In 1857, however, while he was on the bench, his popularity . was such, that contrary to his known inclination, his party associates made him their candidate for congress. The district being largely re- publican, he was defeated with his party. In I85S he resigned the position of circuit judge to accept the appointment by Gov. Williard, as judge of the supreme court of the state, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Stuart, of Logansport, and delivered his first opin- ion, in the case of Mills et al. vs. The State ex rel. Barbour, et al. ( 10 Ind., 114), in open court, on the first day of the May term of that year. In 1859 he was elected a judge of the supreme court for a full term of six years, ending in January, 1865. In 1864 he was renominated for an election to another term but was defeated with his party at the general election.
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In January, 1865, after the close of the term for which he had been elected in 1859, he returned to Fort Wayne and engaged in the general practice. In May following, he was elected mayor of the city, and after having held the office for about one year resigned in order to give his full time to his practice which had become large and important. From that time until January, 1871, he was a partner with Hon. John Morris, who was his life-long, and most intimate and confidential friend. In 1870, he was again elected by the people of the state as judge of the supreme court. In 1876 he was again nominated for re-election to the same position. After the state convention, an individual whose name need not be mentioned here, being disappointed, and dissatisfied with some appointments which had been made by the supreme court, raised an un- reasonable and unfounded clamor about the expenses of that court. Some of the judges who had also been renominated by the same con- vention, unwisely and unnecessarily, concluded to decline the nomination, and so informed the state committee. That committee, just as unwisely and unnecessarily, accepted the declination, and concluded to leave the matter to be settled by the democrats of each of the supreme court judicial districts. Judge Worden was thus called upon, as all men long in public life are, to meet the complaints and charges of the jealous, envious and disappointed.
The state was then, as it is now, divided into five supreme court judicial districts, corresponding with the number of the supreme court judges. The constitution of the state required, and still requires, that a judge of the supreme court shall reside in each of those districts, although they are elected by the people of the whole state. Judge Worden's dis- trict comprised the counties of Allen, Whitley, Huntington, Wells, Adams, Grant, Blackford, Jay, Delaware, Randolph, Howard, Madison, Hancock, Henry, Wayne, Fayette, Union and Franklin. In compliance with the order of the state committee, a convention was called and assembled in that district, and was largely attended by the leading, influ- ential, and substantial men of the party. Judge Worden's private and official life was not only approved and commended, but it was unani- mously resolved that he should stand as the candidate for the position of supreme judge. That decision was approved by the people, and he was re-elected by a handsome majority, running abreast with the most popular men on the ticket. By virtue of that election, Judge Worden entered upon his third term as judge of the supreme court in January, 1877. That term would have ended in January, 1883. In 1882, his friends at home, and over the state, insisted that he should again be a candidate for election to another term upon the supreme bench. He, however, felt, that having served in that capacity, and performed the arduous and exacting labors of the position for almost nineteen years, he should not further prolong the service, and declined. Upon that de- clination becoming known, his friends at home determined to place him upon the bench of the superior court of Allen county, and he was nom- inated and elected without opposition to that position at the general election in November, 1882.
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That election, and the acceptance of the office, rendered it necessary for him to resign his position upon the supreme bench, which he did soon after the election. He at once entered upon the discharge of the duties of judge of the superior court and was holding that office at the time of his death, at 9:30 p. m., on the 2d day of June, 1884. His death created the greatest sorrow, not only upon the part of the people at his home, but over the entire state. A meeting of the bar was held on the 4th day of June, at which addresses of the highest commendation of the deceased were delivered by Judge Morris, Hon. J. K. Edgerton, and other members of the Allen county bar; by judges of the supreme court, the governor of the state, Senator McDonald, Hon. David Turpie, and other state officers, and distinguished men of the state. At the funeral, the judges of the supreme court of the state who had been Judge Wor- den's associates upon the bench, and his successor, and Judge Morris, who had long been his partner when in the practice, and also associated with him as a commissioner of the supreme court, acted as pall bearers. At the opening of the term November, 1884, of the supreme court, a meet- ing of the bar of the state was held, when Judge Morris, in behalf of that bar, presented an address, upon the life, character, and work of Judge Worden, which the court ordered to be spread upon its records, and published in one of the reports of the decisions of the court.
Judge Worden made no pretence to florid oratory, but in his addresses to the court, and jury, he was logical, practicable and convinc- ing. In the trial of causes, his thorough knowledge of the law and the rules of practice; his fine analytical powers, and logical and methodical manner of thought, enabled him to readily discern and grasp the salient ' points in a case, and handle them with consummate skill. As a nisi prius judge, he had but few, if any, equals in the state. His quick perceptions, and knowledge of the law, and practice, very much lightened the labors of the practitioner, by rendering unnecessary to a large extent, the hunt- ing up and presentation of authorities. Of him it may be truthfully said, that in no office which he was called upon to fill did he fail to come up to the full measure of the requirements of the position. Judge Wor- den's work upon the bench of the supreme court is what has more cer- tainly secured for him an honorable and enduring place in the history of the state. He went upon that bench when a young man, thirty-nine years of age. His work there was such as would adorn any bench in the land. As has been said upon another occasion, he was a man of unusually strong common sense. His mind was clear, logical and dis- criminating. He had also a broad sense of right and justice, and could readily discern upon which side they were in a legal controversy.
He was not a man of circumlocution, either in thought or word. There is a clearness, concisness and directness of expression in his opin- ions that may well serve as a model for judges and lawyers. He was by nature a lawyer and judge, having the faculty, in an unusual degree, of brushing aside all that might tend to becloud and confuse, and seeing readily the real question for decision, and determining what the decision
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should be to conform to the rules of the law, and work out substantial justice to the parties interested. His opinions not only show his ability, and his learning in the law, but they show also, that they were prepared with labor and care. He had no toleration for the weak and abused idea that the reputation of a judge, upon the bench of a court of final decis- ion, is to be established, or the value of his labors measured, by the amount that he may write, and was governed by the sensible, and the only sensible idea, that the reputation of the judge upon such a bench, will rest, finally, upon the character, and not upon the number of his written opinions, and that the value of his labor will be, and can only be, properly measured by the character, and not by the number of his written opinions. He acted upon the idea, that care in the decision of cause's, and in the writing of opinions, lessen the business in the supreme court by lessening litigation below, while haste, and the consequent looseness in expression, in an attempt to multiply opinions, necessarily result in misunderstandings on the part of the profession, the multiplica- tion of suits below, and an increase in the number of appeals. He knew, as any lawyer of experience and observation knows, and espe- cially, as every judge of observation knows, that suits are very fre- quently commenced which have no other foundation than a dictum found in some case, which ought not to be there, and which would not be there but for the haste of the judge who wrote the opinion. Such cases invariably go to the supreme court, and thus, haste in such a court, instead of lessening, in fact increases its business.
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