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 58
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1867 he was placed on the bench of the Allen criminal court, which office he held until his death, April 25, 1882. While he was a law stu- dent he compiled a history of the two great political parties, which he claimed to be merely a compilation from original papers and speeches. This was published in pamphlet form by Messrs. Chapmans, of Terre Haute, Ind., and sown broadcast over the state. Gov. Whitcomb fre- quently declared that this pamphlet had greatly tended to indoctrinate the people of Indiana in Jeffersonian democracy. As late as 1842, the democrats of Allen county had never effected an organization. A few of the more active members of the party in the city, usually, but quietly, named the candidates. This, however, did not suit the farmers, and the result was a meeting of several prominent men from the townships, at Peter Kiser's place of business, who sent for Judge Borden, and re- quested him to draw up a plan of organization, which he did. A dele- gate convention was called, and the plan, through Col. Woodard, a farmer from Aboit township, was adopted, and has ever since, with the exception of one or two unimportant amendments, controlled the action of the party. Judge Borden was full six feet in height, well propor- tioned, of commanding presence, positive but affable in manner, of fine conversational powers, and possessing great energy of character. Judge Borden had five children by his first wife: Esther Anna (deceased), Rebecca Kenyon (deceased), William James, Lieut. George Penington (of the United States army), and Emeline ( wife of Capt. Hargou, also of the army). On the 15th of August, 1848, Mr. Borden was married to Miss Jane Conkling, a native of Buel, N. Y., a daughter of Brewster Conkling. They had one child, Henry D. Borden, born April 29, 1863.
Judge William Wellington Carson, a prominent jurist and pioneer citizen of Fort Wayne, was born in county Mayo, Ireland. In childhood he emigrated with his parents and settled at Cobourg, Canada, where his father died in 1835. The mother, born in 1794, died at Fort Wayne in March, 1889. In 1837, during the rebellion in Canada, Mr. Carson, being too young for service, traveled into this country, and reached Fort Wayne in November, 1837. Here he found employment with Marshall S. Wines, then a large contrator, and becoming attached to his employer, remained with him until the death of the colonel, about 1842. During that time . he had access to the library of Col. Wines, and im- proved his opportunities, and also gained from the colonel, who was an old-school Presbyterian deacon, a liking for that church which led to his becoming a member. He took a two years' classical course with Mr. McJunkin, of Fort Wayne, and then for two years read law and taught school in the city. In 1846 he was admitted to the Allen county bar on the same day on which were admitted Judge Brackenridge and Thomas Coombs. He was licensed to practice by Judges James W. Borden and Chamberlain of Goshen. In the fall of 1846 he was appointed deputy clerk and recorder of Adams county, under Samuel L. Rugg. He re- mained in Adams county two years, and while there was the whig can- didate for representative of Adams and Wells counties, but was defeated.
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He had not yet had the opportunity to attend lectures in law, and in 1848 he attended the law department of the state university at Bloom- ington, and graduated in 1849. In April, of that year. he returned to . Fort Wayne, and in the same year was elected prosecuting attorney for Adams county on the ticket of the democratic party, which he had by this time joined, and to which he has since adhered. In 1850 he was chosen city attorney of Fort Wayne, a position he held for six years. In 1858 he was nominated for judge of the circuit court, then composed of twelve counties, but on account of his refusal to make pledges to be guided by anything but the law in administering justice, he was de- feated by the Regulator vote. In 1860 he was appointed attorney for Allen county, which he held until 1863, before the expiration of his service, however, making a trip to Europe in 1862. Upon his return he was elected to the state senate, of which he was a member until 1870. Though he resigned three times, he was three times re-elected. His service was valuable and conspicuous. He was the author of the law regarding city charters, which governs all the cities of Indiana at the present time. Making a second trip to Europe in 1869, he was upon his return elected judge of the court of common pleas, a position he held with distinguished ability until nearly the time of the abolition of the court. He then made another visit to Europe. In 1874 Judge Carson was appointed by Gov. Hendricks judge of the thirty-eighth judicial circuit, succeeding Judge Lowry, and this place he held until 1876. In 1864 Judge Carson was married to Emily, daughter of George Fleming, of county Westmeath, Ireland. She died in 1871, and in 1874 he was married to Mrs. Jane Allen, also a native of Ireland, by whom he had one son, William Washington. Judge Carson and wife are members of the First Presbyterian church.
Warren Hastings Withers was born at Vincennes, Ind., July 16, 1824. His parents were William L. Withers, of the Virginian family of that name, which is prominent in the history of that state, and Chris- tiana Snapp, daughter of Abraham Snapp, one of the pioneers of the northwest territory. His parents dying while he was a mere boy, he was thrown upon his own resources, and without wealth or influential friends, alone and unaided, commenced the battle of life. Unable to enter college, he spent three years in the printing office of the Vincennes Gazette, under the instruction and fatherly guidance of his life-time friend, R. Z. Carrington. Subsequently, he spent some time in St. Louis, New Orleans, and other parts of the south, and, finally, in Octo- ber, 1842, settled at Anderson, Ind., where he purchased a small print- ing office, but about the time he was to issue his paper, the printing of- . fice at Muncie was burned, and its editor was thrown out of employment, with a family to support. To him young Withers relinquished his pa- per, and applied himself diligently to the study of the law, and was ad- mitted to the bar at Anderson in the spring of 1843. He entered into partnership with the venerable John Marshall at Muncie, and was af- terward associated with John M. Wallace, late judge of the Logansport
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circuit. Not satisfied, however, with the remuneration afforded by the law practice of that day, and having in early boyhood inbibed a taste for politics, he purchased a printing office, and, in 1846, commenced the publication of the Muncie fournal, in which he continued till the spring of 1848, when he came to Fort Wayne and succeeded the late George W. Wood as editor of the Fort Wayne Times. He edited this paper during the Taylor campaign, and afterward sold the establishment to Mr. Wood. In September, 1859, he married Martha, eldest daughter of Capt. Henry Rudisill, one of the pioneers of Allen county. Mr. Withers was an Episcopalian, and was one of the active officers of Trinity Episcopal church. He was an ardent whig until the dissolution of that party; and on the birth of the republican party, gave it a devo- tion born of principle, and increased by years of reflection. But he was not an office-seeker, and in all his active life, held but two offices. The first was that of collector of internal revenue, by appointment of Presi- dent Lincoln in 1861, at the time the office was created; he was thus obliged to organize and arrange a department of public business of whose workings no one knew anything until then. He held the office until July, 1869, discharging the duties in an able an conscientious manner. In 1874, he was the republican candidate for judge of the criminal court, and was only defeated by a majority of 100, in a county where the usual democratic majority is about 3,000. The other office held by him was that of councilman for the Fifth ward of the city of Fort Wayne, to which he was elected in the spring of 1876, though the ward was democratic by a majority of over 200. In every political campaign for thirty years, he was an earnest worker on the stump. On retiring from the editorial chair, he re-entered the active practice of the law at Fort Wayne; first, as a partner of Mr. Colerick, afterward with Col. Charles Case, until the latter was elected to congress. He then formed a partnership with Judge John Morris, which firm contin- ued for some sixteen years, when Hon. J. L. Worden became a partner and remained in it until he was elected to the supreme court, after which the firm of Morris & Withers continued until 1874. On the death of Judge Borden in April, 1882, Mr. Withers was appointed by Governor Porter judge of the criminal court, but he had enjoyed this honor only a few months when his death occurred, November 15, 1882.
Hon. John Morris .- Jonathan Morris, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Loudon county, Va., on the ninth day of June, 1788. Actuated by the motives and ambitions which peopled the then new west with the best blood from the old states, he emigrated to, and settled in, Columbiana county, Ohio, near New Lisbon, as a farmer, and followed that occupation through life. There he married Sarah Snyder, who was born in that county in 1790. Starting thus together in life in the early years of Ohio, as a state, those people by their energy, indus- try and sterling integrity, made for themselves a home and competency, and won the esteem and highest regards of those among whom they lived. Full of years, and honored by their children and all who knew
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them, the husband and father died in 1865, and the wife and mother in 1875. As is most always the case, the son doubtless owes much of his success in his profession, and in life, to the native ability of his parents, and their example and training in early youth. John Morris, the son of those worthy parents, was born on the home farm near New Lisbon, on the 6th day of December, 1816. After receiving his early education he began the study of law in the office of William D. Ewing, at New Lisbon, and was admitted to the bar there in 1841. In the same year he was married to Miss Theresa J. Farr, an estimable young lady of that county, who, as a model wife and mother, has been the helpmeet in fact, sharing with him the anxiety of the young beginner, and the successes of the accomp- lished lawyer. Three years subsequent to his marriage he removed to Indiana and opened a law office in Auburn, the county seat of DeKalb county. He was not long in achieving a position in the front ranks of the profession in his adopted county and northern Indiana. But a few years after settling at Auburn he was elected judge of the common pleas court, the district embracing a number of counties, and discharged the duties of the office with such faithfulness and ability as to merit the good will and highest commendation of the bar and the people. In 1857 he sought a wider field, and began at Fort Wayne an extensive and successful practice, which has made his name well known through- out the state. In the active practice, Judge Morris is eminently a lawyer of resources. Always a student, careful in the preparation of his cases, and quick to see and anticipate difficulties which are, or may be, en- countered, he is never discomfited by them, but is able to so shape his cause as to avoid them, when that is possible. Truthful in his own life, he has the faculty in a large degree, of knowing when a witness is tell- ing the truth, and the whole truth, or when he is concealing the truth or falsifying. While he is always kind, courteous and gentlemanly in dealing with witnesses, the false witness generally has abundant cause to regret his wrong after passing through the searching cross-examina- tion by him. In his long and active practice, Judge Morris has not only retained his reputation among the people for integrity and high char- acter, but has been fortunate in retaining the uniform good will and kind regard of the lawyers with whom he has practiced. Vigorous and ag- gressive in the trial of a cause he never allows himself to descend from the high standard of a gentleman. His successes in the practice have been numerous, but his laurels have been won with such grace and modesty, that envy and emnity have not assailed him. In politics Judge Morris was an ardent whig during the life of that party, as was his father, and since the organization of the republican party he has been an earnest advocate of its principles. He has never sought official prefer- ment, but on the contrary, having often been solicited and urged by his party to accept nominations for some of the most important political offices when an election was certain, but has uniformly declined. In 188I, an act of the legislature provided for the appointment of five supreme court commissioners by the judges of the supreme court
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to assist that court in its important work. Judge Morris was selected and appointed as one of the commissioners in April, 1881, accepted the position and served until November, 1883, when he resigned to resume the practice at Fort Wayne. It was a compliment to him to have been appointed largely upon the recommendation of Judge Worden, who had been a judge of that court for years, who was a lawyer and judge of great ability, and who as a partner of Judge Morris for years, knew better than any one else, his ability and fitness for the position. His patient and systematic study of the law, his long and varied experience at the bar, and his power of analysis, greatly aided him in his work as a supreme court commissioner. From the first, and continuously, he was regarded by the supreme court, and the bar of the state, as one of the ablest and safest of the commissioners. His writ- ten opinions while commissioner, published in the Indiana reports, would be a credit to any judge. Some of them will be regarded as leading cases. To perpetuate his memory with the bench and bar of the state at least, his work upon the supreme bench will be a sufficient monument. Since his retirement from that bench, Judge Morris has been engaged in the active practice of the law at Fort Wayne. Although beyond the age at which men generally engage in active business, he is still (1889) in his usual robust health, both physically and mentally.
David H. Colerick was a leading member of the bar of Indiana, and with hardly an exception was the most graceful and accomplished speaker in the state. He possessed in an eminent degree all the elements of an orator; a vigorous imagination, a pleasing presence, a rich clear voice, and a great command of language. He was invariably gracious and affable in manner. David Hoge Colerick was born in May, 1805, at Washington, Washington county, Penn. His father, John Colerick, was a distinguished Irish patriot, who worked with Robert Emmet in the great struggle for the liberation of Ireland and the cause of human freedom, and in the interests of the cause to which he was devoted, published and.edited a paper in Ireland. Upon the arrest of Emmet, many of his followers made their way to the United States, but just as Mr. Colerick was about to leave Ireland, he was arrested and on politi- cal charges was incarcerated for sixteen months. Finally escaping he came to America and joined the settlement of Irish patriots at Pitts- burgh, then a small trading post. At that place he published and edited for many years the Western Telegram, which was the first newspaper printed west of the Allegheny mountains. Subsequently, he removed the paper to Washington, Penn., where he conducted it until his death in 1807. David, then two years old, was subsequently taken by his mother to Zanesville, Ohio, where, when a youth, he entered the store and afterward the law office of Gen. Philemon Beecher, a successful merchant and eminent lawyer, who had represented the Lancaster district in congress. After the death of Gen. Beecher, David H. Colerick finished his studies of the law in the of- fice of the famous Thomas Ewing, who was afterward United States
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senator. He was admitted to the bar at Lancaster and soon afterward, in 1829, moved to Fort Wayne, where he practiced law until 1872, when he retired from the cares and duties of his profession. In his- early years he was active in politics as a whig, and was an enthusiastic follower of Henry Clay. He served in both houses of the Indiana legis- lature, being elected to the house in 1832 and to the senate in 1835, on both occasions having as his opposing candidate, W. G. Ewing, one of the wealthiest and most influential men of northern Indiana. The dis- trict which he represented, extended from the Wabash river to the Michigan state line, and from Ohio to Illinois, and the legislature during his service was composed of the ablest men of the state, many of whom rose to great prominence. He decided to never again accept office, at the close of his senatorial term, and was steadfast in this resolution, though twice offered subsequently the nomination to congress. After 1854, he allied himself with the democratic party, and in 1864 was unanimously selected as a delegate to the Chicago national convention which nominated George B. McClellan for the presidency. Mr. Colerick was married while a member of the senate to Elizabeth Gillespie Wal- pole, a woman of fine culture, by whom he had nine children, of whom four are living, Walpole G., attorney, who was elected to represent the twelfth district in congress in 1878 and again in ISSo, Henry and Phile- mon B., both attorneys, and Mrs. John Larwill. David H. Colerick died November 6, 1887. On the following day a meeting of the Allen county bar was held, at which, eloquent addresses concerning him were made, and the following resolution presented by the committee consist- ing of Robert S. Taylor, Joseph Brackenridge, L. M. Ninde, John Mor- ris, Edward O'Rourke, and F. P. Randall, is here quoted as a just esti- mate of his character. " As a husband, father and friend he was kind, affectionate, steadfast and devoted. As a lawyer, he knew no end but his client's interest, no means but honorable advocacy, and spared himself no pains or labor to attain success. A kind providence has spared his life so far beyond the common span, that his fame as an orator has become a legend of the bar. It is only the older ones of us who can remember his unrivalled skill and eloquence as an advocate, and who can testify, as we do, with grateful recollection, to his fatherly kindness to every young attorney, the gentle courtesy of his manners, and the unbounded goodness of his heart, in the days when he stood among the leaders of the Indiana bar. After a long day of active life, and a long evening of peaceful retirement in the bosom of his family, he has gone to the night of his eternal rest, to be broken only by the morning of a glorious. resurrection. We shall hold him always in affectionate remembrance."
Hon. Walpole G. Colerick was born in Fort Wayne about forty-four and one-half years ago. He belongs to an honorable and distinguished family on both his father's and mother's side. He is a son of the late Hon. David H. Colerick, and his mother's name before marriage was Elizabeth Gillespie Walpole. He also belongs to families of lawyers. Three of his mother's brothers were lawyers. John G. Walpole was a
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practitioner at Fort Wayne, where he died many years ago, and Rob- ert L. and Thomas D. Walpole were distinguished lawyers at Indianap- lis. He is one of six sons of the late Hon. and Mrs. David H. Colerick, all of whom were, and are, successful lawyers. His older brother, the Hon. John Colerick, one of the most promising and brilliant of the younger men of the state, died in March, 1872. David Colerick, another older brother, and a lawyer of ability and promise, also died in 1872. Each of these brothers had, in early life, been trusted and honored by the people, not only by a large practice in their profession, but by the be- stowal of public office. Still later, Thomas Colerick, a younger brother died when a young man, and when he was just entering upon what prom- ised to be a successful and brilliant career as a lawyer. He was not only a young man of fine ability and character, but he had the industry and methods of study which always bring their reward by way of success in the learned professions. Messrs. Henry and Philemon B. Colerick, younger brothers, are both practicing and successful lawyers in Fort Wayne; the former has been attorney for the city of Fort Wayne for twelve years, The subject of this sketch was educated in the city schools of Fort Wayne, the course of study in which is equal to that of many colleges. He, however, did not, and has not, depended upon what may be learned in pursuing the ordinary course of study provided by institutions of learn- ing, but has pursued such reading and study as was best calculated to fit him for the learned profession of his choice. He has had advantages which not many enjoy, in preparing for, and entering upon, the duties of a profession. He not only had the benefit of his father's learning, experience, example, advice and encouragement, but also the help, advice and encouragement of a mother of fine ability and culture. He had gone through a course of study in the law, been admitted to the bar, and became a partner with his father, before he was twenty-one years of age. From that time until now he has been one of the leading and most successful practioners at the Allen county bar. He is able and patient in the preperation of his causes for trial, and in the trial of them he is skillful and successful. In the preparation of a cause and in pre- senting it to the court and jury, he has few equals in discovering in advance the controlling points, and in so marshaling the testimony and handling it in the argument, as to produce the conviction that the cause of his client is just and ought to prevail. He is a good judge of human nature, and is remarkably conversant with the modes of thought on the part of jurors. With these qualifications, and his natural facilities in the way of a public speaker, he is forcible and successful as an advo- cate in jury cases. Added to his other elements of success is that of sincerity, which has no little weight with both the court and jury.
Mr. Colerick has always been popular with the people, and has been peculiarly fortunate in having many friends among them who, on all occasions, are ready to make his cause their own. In 1878, when but thirty-three years of age, he was nominated over a strong competitor, and elected to congress from the Fort Wayne district. He was re-
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elected in ISSo. In those campaigns, whether alone, or in joint debate with his competitor, Mr. Colerick more than met the expectations of his friends, in the eloquent, learned and logical manner in which he dis- cussed the questions at issue. As a member of congress, he was able, faithful and diligent, always in his seat, or at work with committees. And although he was of the party in the minority, and voted with it upon all questions dividing the two parties, and made earnest and strong speeches in advocacy of its principles, he was popular with the oppo- sition, and was thus enabled to get favors from them in the way of help in the passage of measures in which his people were interested. It was thus that he was enabled to procure the passage of the laws providing for the holding of terms of the federal courts at Fort Wayne, and for the construction of the government building, for the accommodation of those courts, the postoffice, and other government offices. After retiring from congress he was engaged in the practice of the law at Fort Wayne until November, 1883. In that month the supreme court of the state, without solicitation on his part, and without his knowledge in advance, tendered him the position of supreme court commissioner. While the position was subordinate to that of a judge of the supreme court, it required no less ability and learning to fill it properly. Causes were distributed to the commissioners for examination, decision, and the writing of opinions, as to the court. And while the court ultimately decided the causes, by adopting or rejecting the opinions prepared by the commissioners, very much depended upon their work. After some hesitation ,Mr. Colerick accepted the proffered position, and entered upon the discharge of its duties on the 9th day of November, 1883, and served until the expiration of the commission, by operation of law in 1885. In that position, Judge Colerick again more than met the expec- tations of his friends, and of the supreme court. His opinions from the first, showed that he had the ability, learning and habits of industry and care, to render him a reliable, and valuable judge upon the bench of the supreme court. Those qualities at once commanded confidence upon the part of the supreme court, and the bar of the state. His statements of causes are concise and clear, and his opinions upon the law applicable and controlling, are able, accurate and forcible. His written opinions are singularly free from circumlocution, unnecessary matter, or dictum ยท which might tend to mystify or mislead. When they are read by a law- yer, there is left no doubt as to what the case was, nor as to the law therein declared. Since retiring from the bench, Judge Colerick, in the vigor of mature manhood, both physical and mental, has been engaged in a large and important practice at Fort Wayne.
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