USA > Kansas > Labette County > History of Labette County, Kansas, and representative citizens > Part 34
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THE LABETTE RECORD
Made its appearance October 21, 1899. under the management of W. L. Piatt, who continues to edit and publish it.
WILSONTON PAPERS.
THE WILSONTON JOURNAL
Was started at Wilsonton, May 1, 1888, by Mrs. Ella B. Wilson, since which time she has continued to conduct it as editor and proprietor. It is published monthly.
THE WHITE BANNER,
Which was first published on a farm for a time, was published in Wilsonton from July, 1894, to June, 1895, when it was removed to Altamont, where it has since remained.
DENNIS PAPERS.
THE HUSTLER
Made its first appearance September 1, 1898, and was the first paper published in Dennis. It was not, in fact, printed in Dennis, but in Thayer ; but it purported to come from Dennis. It was edited by A. E. Miller. It only lived three months.
THE LEADER.
Some three months after the death of the Hustler, another effort was made to establish a paper in Dennis. In February, 1899. A. E. Miller and Walter I. Thorne started the Leader, which for two months was printed in the Palladium office in Parsons. The propri- etors then purchased a printing outfit of their own and the work on the paper was then done in Dennis. The first issue was dated February 9, 1899. After nine months, Mr. Thorne sold his interest in the paper to G. A. Miller. Miller Brothers continued to publish the paper until November 15. 1900, after which the plant was removed to Thayer.
PAPERS PUBLISHED BY THE COL- ORED PEOPLE.
KANSAS ADVOCATE.
The first issue of this paper was dated at Parsons, September 1, 1881. It was a small eight-page paper, started by W. B. Avery, a colored minister, and was intended as a medi- um for furnishing the colored population with a line of reading-matter in which they would be especially interested, to be issued only monthly. But Mr. Brooks, of the Oswego Republican, entered into an agreement with Mr. Avery for publishing his paper at the Re-
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publican office. It was very much enlarged in size, and issued weekly instead of monthly. While continuing under the editorship of Mr. Avery, the most of the material was the same as that which simultaneously appeared in the Weekly Republican. The colored people did not furnish a sufficient patronage to justify its continuance, and its publication ceased after some three or four months.
THE EYE-OPENER
Was started by the colored people of the coun- ty as an avenue by which to make known to the public their views, wants, and intentions, and as a means of educating their young peo- ple in the duties of citizenship. It was issued from Parsons. The first number was dated July 9, 1892. E. M. Woods was editor and E. W. Dorsey business manager. But in a
short time Mr. Dorsey withdrew to become president of the Blade company. The publi- cation of this paper was discontinued with the close of 1892.
THE BLADE.
A little disagreement arising between the proprietors of the Eye-Opener, a division of interest seemed advisable to them, and on Au- gust 20, 1892, the Parsons Weekly Blade was started, with S. O. Clayton, editor; E. W. Dorsey, president; and Charles A. Morris, business manager. After a term of five years as editor, Mr. Clavton retired and was suc- ceeded by J. E. Johnson. In 1898 the man- agement of the paper passed to J. M. Dorsey, with whom it continued two years. Its publi- cation then went into the hands of a company, and Charles A. Morris became its editor ; and under this management it is now conducted.
BENCH AND BAR
At the very opening of this topic I want to say that I do not expect to be able to men- tion the name of everyone who has been a mem- ber of our bar ; many of them were here but a short time and left nothing to particularly call to mind their sojourn among us. I know of nothing that will furnish even the names of these parties except the numberless detailed records of court proceedings, and were one to go through all these he could hardly be sure he had the names of all members of the bar who have resided in the county. All I can say is that I shall say something of all whom I can recall and no name will be intentionally omitted.
THE COURT.
The first term of the district court in this county was held in the second story of the only two-story frame building then standing on the Oswego town-site; it was located on the southwest corner of block 25 and had just been erected by Thomas J. Buntain. During 1868 and the spring term of 1869, court was held in different rented rooms. At the con- vening of the October (1869) term, court opened in the new frame building which Os- wego had given to the county for a court- house.
The first term of court was formally opened in the afternoon of Monday, October 7, 1867, and adjourned sine die on Friday, the
IIth, although no business was transacted after Thursday. There was no trial and de- termination of any cause at this term of court. The business principally consisted in the ad- mission of attorneys and the hearing and pass- ing on some preliminary motions.
At the time of its organization this county was comprised in the Seventh judicial district, and so remained until March 24, 1870, at which time the law creating the Eleventh ju- dicial district went into effect. This county continued in the Eleventh judicial district un- til February 22, 1901, on which day the law . went into effect constituting Labette and Mont- gomery counties the Fourteenth judicial dis- trict.
THE BENCH.
While we were a part of the Seventh ju- dicial district, two different judges presided over our court; and during the time we were within the bounds of the Eleventh judicial dis- trict seven different persons held the office of judge.
W. A. Spriggs, residing at Garnett, pre- sided over our court at its first session. He is the only one of our judges whom I have never known personally. He is said to have been a man of honor and fair ability. Having held court here for less than a week, he made no deep impression on our judicial matters.
In the fall of 1867, John R. Goodwin was
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elected judge of the Seventh judicial district. and presided in our court during the next two years. He was fairly well versed in the law but owed his popularity more to his jovial na- ture and ability to mix with the boys than to his legal erudition. It required buisiness of more than usual importance or to be more than usually pressing in its character to pre- vent his adjourning court for the purpose of accepting an invitation to assist sampling what were supposed to be good "warming" or "cool- ing" drinks, or to engage in a game of cards. However, Judge Goodwin kept the business of the court well in hand and gave quite general satisfaction.
The first two judges of the Eleventh ju- dicial district were the Webb brothers, both of whom were well versed in the principles of the common law, and also possessed of nat- ural abilities as lawyers.
When the bill was passed creating the new district, the Governor appointed William C. Webb, then residing at Fort Scott, its first judge. He was perhaps too technical to be a great lawyer or judge, but he was certainly very much above the ordinary lawyers who then were practicing in this part of the State. He was a hard worker, a stickler for form and order, and did much to bring the business of the court into a more orderly and consistent condition than it had ever before been in.
Henry G. Webb was elected judge of the district in November, 1870, and succeeded his brother on the bench. Two strangers could scarcely be more unlike than were these brothers. What William got in the way of legal knowledge by study and hard work, Henry absorbed or took intuitively. Had the latter been disposed to have worked as hard as did the former there is no telling what posi- tion he might have attained as a lawyer. Hen-
ry was much less technical and much broader in his legal views than was his brother but was not so orderly in his methods. For ability to clearly and forcibly state a legal proposition, Henry G. Webb has never had an equal on the bench of this district. He resigned his position as judge in the early part of 1873 and has since been a practitioner at the bar.
Bishop W. Perkins of Oswego was appoint- ed to the bench on the retirement of Judge Webb in the fore part of 1873. This appoint- ment was considered to have been the reward of efficient work done for Gov. Osborne in the preceding campaign no less than because of professional merit. Judge Perkins was a fair lawyer and made an efficient judge, but it was in the field of politics, rather than in that of jurisprudence, that he excelled. He was a born politician and had an instinctive scent for the trail of public sentiment. He was appointed county attorney a few weeks after he came to Oswego in 1869, and from that time, until within a few months before his death in 1894, he was a continuous office holder. He remained on the bench until January, 1883, when his offi- cial station was transferred from the bench to Congress.
George Chandler, of Independence, was elected judge of the district in November, 1882, assumed the duties of his office in January, 1883, and held the position until the spring of 1889, when he resigned to accept the position of Assistant Secretary of the Interior in the cabinet of President Harrison. Judge Chan- dler was a man of a good deal of natural abil- ity and acquired power. His physical organi- zation was capable of sustaining an unlimited amount of work and it was largely to this and his natural industry that he owed his success. As a judge he had some elements of strength and quite as many of weakness. He prided
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himself on instructing a jury; yet it was the general opinion of the profession, that a jury would know less of the real merits of a case when he was through giving his instructions than when he commenced. He lacked the abil- ity to grasp and clearly and concisely state the points at issue and then announce the law ap- plicable thereto. His system of conducting court business frequently required parties with large numbers of witnesses to remain about the court for days before their cases could be reached. His requirement of punctuality on the part of litigants, attorneys, jurors and wit- nesses became actually burdensome and tend- ed to retard rather than facilitate the dispatch of business. Notwithstanding his defects, he was an able and popular judge.
John N. Ritter of Columbus was appointed to succeed Judge Chandler on the bench, and served till after the November election in 1889; he was defeated for the position at that election. Judge Ritter was an honest, painstaking, care- ful, industrious and capable attorney, and he carried these qualities with him on the bench. As a lawyer probably no one would place him in the first rank in the bar of the State, but in the second ranks he would take an honorable place. He made a much more able and com- petent judge than the profession generally thought he would at the time of his appoint- ment. His retirement from the bench was the source of regret to very many who had not been especially anxious to see him appointed.
Jerry D. McCue of Independence was elect- ed judge in November, 1889, and served dur- ing the next five years. Mr. McCue was the first attorney who settled in this county and had always stood high at the bar. His personal indulgences in the early days of his residence among us had deprived him of much of the business which he would otherwise have
obtained. Perhaps on this account, more than for any other reason, he left Oswego and set- tled in Independence. Taking into considera- tion all of his qualities. I think it may be safe- ly said we have never had an abler judge on the bench of this district than was Judge Mc- Cue. Naturally, he had a judicial mind. His professional preparation had been pursued in Illinois where he became well grounded in the principles of common law. His confidence in his own ability almost amounted to egotism and prevented any feeling of diffidence either at the bar or on the bench. This confidence enabled him to successfully use all his powers. His record on the bench is one of which he may well be proud.
Andy H. Skidmore of Columbus was elect- ed district judge in November, 1894, and has served from the January following, during which time he has gained in his 'hold on the people. Judge Skidmore has had a popularity on the bench which some have found it dif- ficult to account for. It can not be said to be altogether owing to his judicial ability. Per- haps it is in a measure owing to his uniform good nature, his close attention to the public business, his painstaking effort to hear all par- ties and consider all interests, and then to ren- der such decision as he thinks the facts war- rant. The division of the Eleventh judicial district and the placing of this county in a newly constituted district takes us from Judge Skidmore's jurisdiction. As this history is not supposed to enter the twentieth century, I shall not speak of the newly appointed occu- pant of the bench.
THE BAR.
Jerry D. McCue was the first lawyer to set- tle in Labette county. He had been admitted
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to the bar in Illinois, but had little, if any, practice there. He reached Oswego in July. 1867. In September he attended the first term of court in Neosho county and was admitted to the Kansas bar there, so that, when our court convened in October he was an author- ized practitioner under the Kansas laws. Dur- ing his residence here he certainly had as much business as any member of the bar. In 1871 he moved to Independence where he resided and practiced till his election as district judge.
Next in order of time came N. L. Hibbard who arrived in Oswego in August, 1867. He had been the prosecuting attorney of his coun- ty and naturally felt competent to compete with those whom he had to meet in court here, all of whom were young men. Mr. Hibbard's laugh was the one quality by which he will be longest remembered by those who knew him here; it had almost the volume of a locomotive whistle. In 1870, without informing the public of his intentions, he took his departure from our midst.
W. J. Parkinson came to Oswego about the same time as Mr. Hibbard, and the two joined forces for the practice of their profession. The firm of Hibbard & Parkinson was the first law partnership in the county. Mr. Parkinson had recently come from one of the eastern states and had temporarily stopped in Leavenworth where he had been admitted to the bar of Kan- sas, so that he was the first lawyer who had been admitted to the bar in this state to settle in this county. He is said to have been a young man of fine address and good ability. On the first day of our first term of court on October 7, 1867, Judge Spriggs appointed Mr. Parkin- son county attorney ; before that time there had been no county attorney. In November of that same year Mr. Parkinson left the county and,
as I am informed. went east and entered the ministry.
The next lawyer to cast his lot among us was Walter P. Bishop, who arrived in Oswego in September, 1867, having already been ad- mitted to the bar in Douglas county before coming here. Of all the attorneys who have practiced at this bar there has probably been no one who prided himself more on his good looks and elegant appearance than did Mr. Bishop. He had quite a good deal of ability and still more conceit. His good looks, abil- ity and self assurance made him a popular at- torney, and he was able to divide with Mr. McCue most of the best business of the county during the first two or three years after they came. Mr. Bishop was for a time county at- torney, and afterwards probate judge. In 1870 he represented the county in the Legisla- ture. His career at the bar was then virtually closed. He went to Topeka and failed to se- cure business ; temporarily he came back to Os- wego and failed here. He then went to Col- orado where he died. The outcome of his ca- reer fell far short of what its opening prom- ised it might be.
The four attorneys whom I have named are the only ones who had settled in the county, and who had been admitted to the bar prior to the opening of the first term of our district court. But at that term of court there appeared as one of the practitioners of the bar John Se- crest, of Humboldt, who sometime thereafter settled at Chetopa, where he lived several years. Some of his enemies claimed that in his business he had more practices than practice. He was finally killed by a band of outlaws in the Indian Territory.
Of these five attorneys all had been admit- ted to practice in Kansas before the opening of
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our first term of court except Mr. Hibbard, and he was made a member of the Kansas bar on the first day of the term. The only other at- torneys who appear from the records to have been in attendance at that term of court were WV. A. Johnson, of Garnett, and Jolin R. Goodwin, of Humboldt.
Five persons who were then "old settlers" in the county, not one of whom had ever pre- tended to read law, and perhaps neither of whom had ever looked in a law book, unless it were the statutes, were regularly admitted to the bar, after having "passed a satisfactory ex- amination," at the first term of our court. The examination was probably on the quality of the liquor furnished by the candidates to the com- mittee. At first sight the record might indi- cate that some of these parties were admitted the first day, but from the whole record I am satisfied that all that was done the first day was the appointment of two committees on examin- ation. Three of these parties were admitted on the second day of the term, one on the third day, and the other on the fourth day. The following are the names of the parties thus admitted to the bar, in the order of their admission : J. S. Waters, C. H. Bent, Dr. J. F. Newlon, W. C. Watkins, and C. C. Clover. Mr. Waters is the only one of these who ever became a practicing lawyer. It is true that Mr. Bent succeeded Mr. Parkinson as county attor- ney, but Mr. Bishop, who acted as his deputy or assistant, did all the work. Mr. Bent was the first and Mr. Watkins the second repre- sentative in the Legislature from this county. The latter was commonly known as "the gen- tleman from "U. bet," because his favorite expression of assent was "you bet." Mr. Wat- ers was never much of a lawyer, but he was a shrewd manager and very successful in local politics. He served several terms as county
attorney, represented the county in the Legisla- ture, and subsequently was appointed to a po- sition in one of the U. S. land offices in Idaho.
With the exception of Mr. Waters, who re- sided at Montana, all of the attorneys I have named belonging to this county were located at Oswego. The next who came to the county chose Chetopa as his place of residence.
James H. Crichton came from Indiana to Chetopa in the spring of 1868. For a number of years he has been, in respect to residence, the oldest attorney in the county. At an early age Mr. Crichton figured quite prominently in politics ; he was twice a candidate for the State Senate, and was once or twice elected repre- sentative. For several years after coming here, he held quite a prominent place at the bar and had a very fair business; but he allowed poli- tics and some other matters to interfere with his professional business, and for a number of years past he has seldom appeared in court and has practically abandoned practice.
W. C. Pew settled in Oswego in the sun- mer of 1868 and remained until the early spring of the following year. While he was a well read lawyer he was not adapted to western ways of those days and got little business.
W. P. Lamb was the worst hater of all hit- manity, the most untiring prosecutor of any one whom he got in his power, the most bitter in his speech, against court and opposing coun- sel, and one of the most uniformly unsuccess- ful lawyers who ever practiced at this bar. Not without a certain degree of native ability and acquired culture, he had been so long accus- tomed to have his hand against every other man's hand that to instinctively dislike every other man became a quality of his mind. Those who slept within hearing distance of him dur- ing court said he was accustomed to spend a good portion of the night in cursing somne one
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with whom he had been brought in contact during the day. An intensely pro-slavery man, he had come to Kansas in an early day to assist in making her a slave state. He had been quite prominent as an attorney while that ele- ment was in the ascendant, but the habits of life and business which he had thus acquired had not fitted him to be a successful practi- tioner among the people who settled this county. He came here in the fall of 1868 set- tled at Chetopa where he made his home till late in the "seventies" when he went farther west.
W. M. Rogers came to this county about the close of 1868 and settled in Mound Valley township. In his former home he had been around the court room enough to learn several legal terms and when he came to this county he commenced to assist his neighbors to get into difficulty by attending to their cases in jus- tice court. In 1871 he secured a favorable re- port from an examining committee and the court permitted him to be sworn as a member of the bar.
J. C. Strang lived at Oswego and was glad to meet Mr. Rogers in legal argument. He probably knew more legal terms than did his rival but he had drank so much more whisky that he could not always make as good use of them. He was never entrusted with any busi- ness and therefore seldom, if ever, did any one any damage. -
J. F. Bellamy had been admitted to the bar in Indiana before settling at Jacksonville, in the northeast corner of this county. At this point he taught school and offered his services as a lawyer, but the extent of his practice was very limited. In a few years he went back to In- diana where he met with much better success. He subsequently returned to this state and is
now one of the prominent attorneys of Mont- gomery county.
John H. Gunn also lived at or near Jack- sonville. He had no knowledge of law and the only way 'he attempted to succeed as a law- yer was by a kind of practice so reprehensible that no reputable attorney would indulge in it. The profession was honored by his removal from the county in the latter part of 1869.
About the close of 1869, Joseph S. Gage lo- cated at Chetopa and was admitted to the bar of the county in April. 1870. He staid here but a short time and did no legal business to speak of.
B. W. Perkins located in Oswego in April, 1869, and at once formed a partnership with W. P. Bishop which continued until his ap- pointment as district judge. The firm of Bish- op & Perkins always had a good business.
Nelson Case arrived in Oswego, May 15, 1869, and, since the retirement of Mr. Crich- ton from active practice, 'he has been, in point of residence, the senior member of the bar of this county.
J. J. Brown found his way to Oswego in June, 1869, and practiced his profession here till 1874 when he removed to Oregon. He had received a good education and had a faculty of making the most out of his position. He was something of a society man and made a good many friends. He was fairly successful while he remained in Oswego, but his success here was nothing in comparison to what it was on the Pacific slope. He there became one of the recognized leading financial men. I may say that he made his money in business and not simply in the practice of his profession.
In July, 1869. W. B. Glasse came to Os- wego and at once, in connection with J. J. Brown, formed the firm of Brown & Glasse.
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Mr. Glasse had a military experience which proved serviceable to him, even in the practice of law. In about a year from the formation of their partnership, Brown & Glasse took in a new partner and the firm became Adams, Brown & Glasse. After the dissolution of this firm Col. Glasse formed with H. G. Webb the firm of Webb & Glasse. From January 1, 1885, till Col. Glasse removed to Columbus in May, 1893, he was in partnership with Nelson Case under the firm name of Case & Glasse. Since that time he has been practicing his pro- fession at Columbus. From his very first set- tlement in the county Col. Glasse took a high rank at the bar. He is the soul of honor, is well read in the law, is a forcible advocate and inspires with confidence all with whom he comes in contact. He served a term in the State Senate and was auditor of the county several years.
M. S. Adams came to Oswego from Leav- enworth early in 1870. Sometime that year he became a partner of Brown & Glasse. He had been a prominent attorney and politician at Leavenworth but had only moderate success in this county. He went from here to Wichita.
Early in 1869 Frank M. Graham settled in Chetopa and became the junior member of the firm of Crichton & Graham. He was better adapted to office work than his partner and add- ed much to the success of the firm. He was popular in Chetopa and exercised much influ- ence in local matters.
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