USA > Kansas > Nemaha County > History of Nemaha County, Kansas > Part 20
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
chison, was justice of the Supreme Court of Kansas and resigned to accept the attorneyship of the Santa Fe railroad ; T. F. Garver was judge of the Appellate Court of Kansas, and Balie Waggener, of Atchison, and present State senator, is general attorney of the Missouri Pacific railway system.
The life of an attorney is not always a bed of roses and this was par- ticularly true of the pioneer lawyer in advance of the carriage, railroads and motor cars, when the legal practitioner often traveled on ·foot or horseback to the neighboring county seats to try his cases. The popula- tion was scant, drouths and grasshoppers plentiful and money almost un- known and the attorney, in common with the other inhabitants, en- dured every privation. Once a stranger sought the services of an attor- ney and handed him a silver dollar as a fee, when he jocularly remarked, "they still make them round." The early life and habits of the first set- tlers were "rough and ready," with open saloons and the unrestricted sale of liquor, a large adventurous criminal element, migrated from the East- ern States, passionate, impulsive, quick to take offense and ready and willing to use the scathing tongue, their fists and weapons on slight pro- vocation and some of the time of the early attorney was consumed in avoiding unnecessary controversy in conciliating their adversaries, or hiding out and avoiding or dodging fists, clubs, knives or bullets. It re- quired courage then to plead an unpopular cause and defend a client against an excited public sentiment, but the courage of the attorney was equal to that of the populace and justice was dealt ont principally through the courts but often by mob violence. As an example of the spirit of these turbulent times and the vigorous language and methods employed by those high in authority we cite the following. Byron Sher- ry, a leading member of this bar, and State senator from this district, had voted against the re-election of Senator Lane to the United States senate and in a political speech in Seneca before his fellow-townsmen Senator Lane denounced Senator Sherry for his opposition and legislative con- duct. Amidst great excitement Senator Sherry quickly and hotly retort- ed, "Senator Lane, you are a liar and a coward and you were publicly horse-whipped by a woman on the streets of Washington !" Early in the history of the county an amusing incident occurred in the court room over a saloon, when Judge Nathan Price, fond of his "dram," at all intermis- sions of the court, which he sometimes created for the purpose, was pre- siding as judge. Senator John J. Ingalls was in the midst of an eloquent speech to the jury, when Judge Price, suddenly and without apparent ex- c11se or reason, declared a recess and made a "bee line" for the saloon be- low, thus breaking the effect of Ingalls' address. He stopped, looked up at the vacant bench, as though bewildered, back at the jury, and again at the retiring judge, and turning again to the jury, with a merry twinkle in his eye and assuming a confidential hoarse whisper, that could be heard throughout the room said, with a broad smile, "Let's all go and take a drink." Amidst a roar of laughter the suggestion was acted upon and the judge "set 'em up."
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
At another time Senator Ingalls was defending a citizen of the coun- ty in a preliminary examination, charged with being the father of an il- legitimate child. The interest of course was great, the room small and packed, the air intolerable. Ingalls was cross-examining the unfortun- ate mother and a prominent merchant crowded against his chair and was about to unseat him, when, with a merry twinkle in his eye he continued the cross-examination with the question, Madame, were you not on terms of intimacy with this gentleman?" (pointing to the interested and obtru- sive citizen). Amid a roar of laughter, the over curious citizen ducked and retired and selecting other victims, he put the same question, with the same result, until the court room was sufficiently cleared. On the trial of this case in the district court, J. E. Taylor and Simon Conwell prosecuting and Senator Ingalls defending, the illegitimate child because fretful and noisy and with screams stopped all court proceedings, when Ingalls arose with a show of dignity and annoyance and dryly remarked, "Would the Court please require Taylor and Conwell to remove their child from the courtroom?" A roar of laughter in which all joined drown- ed the cries of the child. Recently Judge Stuart was examining a Ger- man applicant for admission to citizenship and in endeavoring to test his knowledge of public affairs and having Roosevelt in mind, asked him to name the most distinguished citizen of the United States of whom he could think, and he promptly replied, "Shiley Herolt," casting an ad- miring glance at our good natured, popular attorney. Charles H. Herold, who beamed his approval. At another time, in endeavoring to test the fairness, impartiality and lack of prejudice, or favor, of a German juror, he was asked, "Notwithstanding the fact that Charles Herold is the lawyer for one of the parties, and his client is a German and the other party is not, do you think you can render a fair and impartial verdict in the case and not show any partiality or favor?" To which he replied, "Yah, I stant by Herolt und der Deutch !"
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There has been filed in the office of the Clerk of the District Court, since the organization of the State, 2,930 civil cases and 773 criminal cases, of almost every kind and nature known to the law, some of a trif- ling character that should never have found their way there and many of great importance and involving large sums of money, great property values and personal rights of the highest necessity to the citizen. The first grand and petit jury was drawn for the November term of the Dis- trict court of Nemaha county, in 1861, and consisted of the following well known early settlers, a few of whom still live, and their descendants still residing in the county are very numerous : Samuel Dennis, Hiram Channel, S. B. Dodge, Elias B. Church, James Larew, John Callahan, John Short, Hiram Berger, Joseph W. Dennis, Moses Blanchett, H. L. Alkire, J. P. Brown, Eli Blankley, Thomas Carlin, John Kilmer, William Histed, H. A. Good, W. N. Cassity, Peter Hamilton, William Hickley, James Randel, John Roe, John Beamer, C. C. Morton, Patrick Howard, Martin Randel, Augustus Wolfley, John Downs, T. A. Canmpfield, Jacob
(14)
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
Geyer, E. D. Gross, Geo. D. Searles, Samuel Allen, B. H. Job, Frank Brown, William Porter, David Armstrong, William Z. Carpenter, H. Grimes, Isaac H. Steirs, John Rodgers, John Hicks, W. W. Shepherd, Joseph Coleman, Larkin Cordell, Jacob Shumaker, G. D. Baker, John Bowman, Samuel Currier and Charles W. Nations.
IMPORTANT CASES.
The space allotted forbids the mention of but few of the many im- portant cases tried by the "Bench and Bar" of Nemaha county. The original title of most of the lands of the county, came through the Home- stead law, from the United States Government in small tracts to actual early settlers, but there were some exceptions. The Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railway (now the Missouri Pacific), as an inducement and bonus for building this railroad and opening up the western prairies, received from the United States Government $16,000 per mile for 100 miles west of Atchison, Kans., and a patent title to each alternate section for ten miles each side of their railroad, which aggregated $1,600,000 and 640,000 acres of land, for which they paid the Government price of $1.25 per acre.
The Louis Lorimer and Regis Loisel Titles .- While the territory comprising the State of Kansas was a Spanish possession in 1800 and a part of the territory known as Upper Louisiana and before the United States acquired the same from France in 1803, Regis Loisel, a fur trader of St. Louis, by grant from Spain, acquired the right to locate 44,800 Spanish Arpens of land (38,III acres) in this territory, and Louis Lori- mer acquired a like grant to locate 25,500 acres. By an act of Congress these Spanish grants were recognized and confirmed, and the heirs and representatives of these parties were given the right to locate lands in Nemaha, Marshall, Pottawatomie and Marion counties, Kansas, to the amount of the respective grants aforesaid at the Government price of $1.25 per acre. The lands were duly located and the heirs and representatives of these parties were allowed to receive patent title to such lands, a large portion being in Nemaha county. These heirs had become numerous, widely scattered and many had transferred their interests, become inca- pacitated from transferring and there were many minors and the title had become greatly complicated and clouded. In 1870 the heirs of Louis Lori- mer and in 1872 the Regis Loisel heirs commenced suits in Nemaha county to settle and determine the interests of the respective heirs to this vast amount of land and to partition the same. The ablest lawyers of Kansas and Missouri took part in these suits and after protracted litiga- tion, the titles to all these lands were quieted and made good and the complicated interests adjusted by decrees of our court, and the land be- gan to be sold to actual settlers. Many of the readers will find that the title to their farms rests on these important records and court proceed- ings.
2II
HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
Railroad Bond Case .- Nemaha county never had any bonded indebt- edness. An attempt was made to bond it at one time, which perhaps in justice and as a matter of right should have been done, but it failed through a technicality. In 1866, there were two railroad corporations existing, one styled the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad Company and another, the Northern Kansas Railroad Company, each organized to construct a railroad from Elwood, Doniphan county, Kansas, to Marys- ville, Kans., and authorized to receive subscriptions to its capital stock from Nemaha county. The county commissioners of this county submit- ted the question of subscribing $125,000 to the capital stock of the North- ern Kansas Railroad Company and issuing bonds in like amount to pay for the same to the electors of the county, and the proposition was car- ried by a pronounced majority and so declared by the canvassing board. In the following October the two railroads aforesaid consolidated as one under the name of the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad Company, which completed the road and demanded the bonds of the county commission- ers, who refused to issue them and the railroad company instituted a suit to compel them to issue the same. But the Supreme Court of the State, in 10 Kansas, page 569, held that the county commissioners were only au- thorized to subscribe for and issue bonds to the Northern Kansas Rail- road company and that the new company, the St. Joseph & Denver City Railroad Company, could not claim the bonds. The county got the rail- road and were not compelled to issue the bonds. The capital stock after- ward proved to be worthless and the county was saved, by the efforts of the county commissioners and the county attorneys advising them and conducting the defense to this suit.
NOTED CRIMINAL CASES.
The State of Kansas vs. Josiah Blancett .- Josiah Blancett was charged with the murder of Thompson Wilson, and this was the first case tried by jury in this county, in 1862, before Judge Graham. On ac- count of a defective indictment, the State could not be allowed to intro- duce evidence of the venue, or place where the murder was committed, and the defendant was acquitted, by the jury and defendant discharged by reason of this technicality.
State of Kansas vs. John Craig .- On October 10, 1864, in the immed- iate vicinity of Seneca, John Craig and Joseph H. Nichols, had a personal dispute, in which Nichols became enraged and assuming a threatening ·attitude, applying insulting epithets to Craig, who drew his revolver and shot Nichols dead on the spot. Craig was arrested and taken before a justice of the peace and on his preliminary examination was discharged on a plea of self defense. Nothing further was ever done in the matter.
The State of Kansas vs. Miles R. Carter and Milton R. Winters .- On February 23, 1865, John H. Blevins, of Holt county, Missouri, accom- panied by Edgar Nuzam, of Doniphan county, Kansas, came to Seneca
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
in search of two horses stolen in Missouri and thought to be in the pos- session of A. M. Smith, a liveryman of Seneca. Being acquainted with C. G. Scrafford, a merchant of Seneca, they went to him for information and assistance, and Scrafford went with them to Smith's stable, and as they approached Carter and Winters mounted on the stolen horses preparing to leave. Nuzam inquired of Blevins if these horses were his, and being assured they were, ordered the thieves to stop and drew his revolver to enforce his order. A. M. Smith drew his revolver and fired, first at Nuzam and then at Blevins, the latter being shot in the left side and the ball passing through his lungs, from which shot he died in a few hours. While this was occurring Carter and Winters rode away but were thrown from their horses, which returned to the stable, followed by the horse thieves where Winters fired several shots at Nuzam without effect. At this time William Boulton, the sheriff, was absent from the county, and amidst the excitement the three guilty parties, Carter, Winters and Smith, escaped. On February 27, 1865, on the return of Sheriff Boulton, Miles N. Carter was arrested and returned to Nemaha county, and brought before John Furrow, justice of the peace, for examination, and the case was continued until the next day, and Carter was taken to jail for safe keeping. About II o'clock on that night a mob of two score or more overpowered the guard, George Monroe, took the prisoner eight miles north of Seneca on the banks of the Nemaha river near Baker's Ford, where his body was found next morning hanging to the limb of a tree. A coroner's inquest was held, but no arrests were made. Horse thieves were shown no quarters in those days. It was generally conced- ed that the Anti Horse Thief Association, composed of our best citizens, dealt out the punishment Carter so richly deserved.
March 6, 1865, Milton R. Winters was arrested by the city mar- shal of Atchison, Kans., returned to Nemaha county, tried and convicted before a jury, and on May 1I, 1866 was sentenced by Judge St. Clair on two charges, one for second degree murder in aiding, abetting and as- sisting A. M. Smith, in the murder of John H. Blevins, for the term of fif- teen years, and another on a plea of guilty for assault with intent to kill Edgar Nuzam for the term of ten years.
A. M. Smith escaped legal retribution, as he was never heard from thereafter. He left a wife and two young sons at Seneca, all becoming respectable citizens.
The State of Kansas vs. Wilton Baughn .- On November 12, 1866, four men came to Seneca with a team, wagon and three loose horses. The horses afterward proved to have been stolen by them at Elwood, Doni- phan county, Kansas. November 19, three pursuers arrived in Seneca and procuring warrants located these men ten miles west of Seneca on the Vermilion, but made no arrest, and returned to Seneca and procured the sheriff and a small force, again started out to make the arrest, going north to intercept them. Soon after their departure the four men passed through Seneca, stopping east of the town. Here they divided ; two of
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HISTORY OF NEMAHA COUNTY
them named Jackson and Strange remaining where they were, and being arrested, while the other two, Baughn and Mooney, started on foot east- ward. The sheriff, with a posse, pursued and overtook them on the Capioma road at the crossing of the Muddy.
Three of the pursuers, Charles W. Ingram, Henry H. Hillix and Jes- se S. Dennis, were in advance of the rest, and on seeing the men, road up to them, Ingram remarking "We have come for you." At this one of the meu, having a double barreled shot gun, discharged both barrels at In- gram, neither of which took effect. The other one had two revolvers, and shot at both Hillix and Dennis, one shot passing through Hillix's clothing, another striking him just below the shoulder blade, making a severe but not dangerous wound. Hillix returned the fire but without ef- fect.
Dennis received a bullet in the back, which passed diagonally through the body, through the lungs and in close proximity to the heart, producing death in a few moments. The man with the gun jumped into an adjoining corn field, and again fired at Ingram, who jumped from his horse and thus avoided the shot. Both men escaped. A proclamation was at once issued offering a reward of a thousand dollars for the deliv- ery of the body of Baughn and Mooney to the legal authorities of the county within ninety days, and giving a description of both desperadoes.
On January 6, 1867, Melvin Baughn, the chief offender in the trag- edy, was arrested in Leavenworth, on a description or warrant sent from St. Joseph, for a gang of burglars who had robbed a store in Wathena a few days before. Upon being recognized as the murderer of Dennis he was delivered to the authorities of this county and lodged in jail, a pre- liminary examination held, and Baughn bound over to await trial at the next term of the district court. On January 10, an unsuccessful attempt was made to lynch Baughn, but was stopped by citizens and compromised by the crowd appointing a deputy sheriff to have special charge of the prisoner, until his trial. On February 6, Baughn with another prisoner confined in the jail succeeded in forcing open the doors and escaping, tak- ing arms and ammunition found in the passage of the jail.
Efforts were made for his recapture, which were unsuccessful until June, 1868, and then only due to the fugitive's committal to lesser crimes than the one for which he was wanted in Nemaha county. On May 25, 1868, a house was robbed at Sedalia, Mo .; the next day a suspicious looking carpet bag was expressed by someone to Joseph King, Otter- ville. Officers there were posted, but in endeavoring to make the arrest of King, wounded him severely, but nevertheless allowed him to escape for the time being, capturing him, disabled by his wound, two days after he was shot. It was then discovered that the prisoner going under the name of Joseph King was the notorious Baughn, the murderer of Den- nis, and he was legally returned to Seneca on June 27, and committed to jail. His trial commenced on August 2, 1868, for the murder of Jesse S. Dennis, and was concluded August 6, the jury returning a verdict of
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guilty, and on the next day Judge Graham pronounced the death sen- tence that he be hanged September 18, 1868. The sentence was duly carried into effect at 3 o'clock p. m. of that day in the court yard in the city of Seneca. The prisoner showed extraordinary nerve at the ap- proach of death and magnanimously forgave the community who had "tyrannized" over him, attributing their ill-feeling to "ignorance and bad whiskey." He also acknowledged his reconciliation to God, but showed no remorse of conscience. Thus ended the Dennis murder case with the first and only judicial execution the county has known.
The State of Kansas vs. Mrs. Frank McDowell .- March 14, 1896, Mrs. Frank McDowell was acquitted by a jury in the district court, on the charge of murdering her husband, Frank McDowell, Judge R. M. Emery presiding.
On February 6, 1896, Frank McDowell died in Goff, Kans., after a short illness, in great misery and with convulsions. Suspicion attached to his second wife, Mrs. Frank McDowell, and on an analysis of the sto- mach and liver of the deceased, arsenic was discovered in fatal quanti- ties. Mrs. McDowell was arrested and held for trial on the charge of murdering her husband. The above facts were shown on the trial with evidence of a confession which was strenuously denied. There was al- so evidence that might warrant the conclusion of the jury that the pres- ence of the arsenic might be due to the medicine administered by the at- tending doctor, or self administered by the deceased. While the court was of the opinion that she was guilty, the general public sentiment was in her favor, and the jury resolved the reasonable doubt in favor of the accused.
The State of Kansas vs. Thomas Ramsey .- On the morning of Jan- uary 30, 1900, Laura B. Ramsey, an old widow lady, living alone in a small house in the city of Sabetha, was found dead in bed, lying on her back, her body and limbs composed, and her hands neatly crossed on her breast, as if carefully "laid out" with no evidence of a struggle. A doctor was called and it was found by injuries to her neck and throat that she had been choked to death the night before. Her son, Thomas J. Ramsey, living near with his wife and children, being naturally quarrelsome and it being known that he had had serious trouble with his mother, was sus- picioned and arrested but discharged for want of sufficient evidence by J. E. Corwin, justice of the peace, at a preliminary examination held on the complaint of James Shintaffer, a son-in-law of Mrs. Ramsey.
On his discharge, Thomas Ramsey instituted a civil suit for mali- cious prosecution and large damages against his brother-in-law, which re- agitated the tragedy, and through the aid of detectives additional evi- dence was procured, Ramsey re-arrested and held to answer a charge of murder in the first degree of his mother. A closely contested trial was had in the district court, and he was by a jury found guilty of murder in the second degree, and on March 21, 1901, sentenced to confinement and hard labor in the State penitentiary for life, where he still remains. From
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facts proven and developed after the trial it was well established that Thomas Ramsey was not a well balanced man mentally or morally ; that he had been persistent in endeavoring to get money from his mother; that on the Sunday night of her death, while his family was at church, he went to her home alone and endeavored to get money from her, that he claimed he should rightly have; that a quarrel ensued, and in an ex- treme fit of passion he choked her to death, probably unintentionally, and composed and arranged the body on the bed where it was found.
The State of Kansas vs. Fred Kuhn .- On August 27, 1910, at a school meeting south of Corning, Kans., a terrible tragedy occurred in which William Blissner was shot and mortally wounded by Fred Kuhn and died in a few hours. His father, F. A. Blissner, was struck across the head with a board, by a brother of Fred, causing the loss of an eye. It seems there were hard feelings existing between the Blissners and the Kuhns, which broke out in a fierce quarrel after a school meeting. The elder Blissner became violent and threatening, and the Kuhns, two brothers and two sisters, endeavored to retire to their wagon to return home. Three of them had gotten into the wagon, when F. A. Blissner unhooked the traces of Kuhns' team, attempted to strike August Kuhn with the neck-yoke, when he was felled by a board in the hands of Au- gust Kuhn, causing the loss of an eye. While this was occurring Fred Kuhn had been intercepted, and pressed back some distance from his team by William Blissner, who was threatening violent injury. The evidence was quite contradictory but the theory of the defense on behalf of Fred Kuhn was that he had been pushed back and attacked and struck with a board and fell to his knees, whereupon he drew his pistol which he had at the meeting and fired killing William Blissner, in self defense. There was evidence that conditions were such as to render the shooting unjustifiable. The jury by their verdict found Fred Kuhn guilty of murder in the second degree, and he was sentenced by Judge Stuart to the penitentiary for a period of ten years. Soon after his incarceration he was "made a trusty" and afterwards paroled.
CHAPTER XXV.
COUNTY ORGANIZATION AND OFFICIAL ROSTER.
FIRST ELECTION-BOGUS LEGISLATURE-COUNTY CREATED-FIRST OFFI- CERS-MEMBERS ELECTED TO SECOND AND THIRD TERRITORIAL LEGIS- LATURE-COUNTY OFFICERS ELECTED IN 1859-FIRST COURT HOUSE-FIRST TERM OF COURT-DISTRICT JUDGE-GRAND JURY-AN IMPORTANT CASE-TOWNSHIPS-COUNCIL-STATE SENATORS-TER- RITORIAL REPRESENTATIVES-STATE REPRESENTATIVES-SHERIFFS- COUNTY CLERKS-REGISTRARS OF DEEDS-COUNTY TREASURERS-PRO- BATE JUDGES-SUPERINTENDENTS OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION -- CLERKS OF DISTRICT COURT-COUNTY COMMISSIONERS-COUNTY SURVEYORS -- CORONERS-COUNTY ATTORNEYS-COUNTY ASSESSORS.
By Ira K. Wells.
The first election held in the county was on March 30, 1855, for members of council, and representatives to the Territorial legislature. There were ten council districts with thirteen members, and fourteen representative districts with twenty-six members. Nemaha precinct with Wolf River and Doniphan constituted the Seventh Council district, and the Eleventh Representative district. The entire vote of the district, 478 ballots, was cast for John W. Foreman, a merchant, a native of Kentucky, and a resident of the Territory for twelve years. The vote of Nemaha precinct was sixty-one. The representatives chosen were: R. L. Kirk, a nine months' resident, and John H. Stringfellow, who had been in the Territory for one year. Nemaha precinct gave the former fifty, and the later, forty-eight votes. At this election George H. Baker, Jesse Adamson and Samuel Cramer were judges; Samuel Croz- ier and Thomas Cramer, clerks. Most of the voters were non-resi- dents, the following being the list of those actually entitled to the right of suffrage: W. W. Moore, W. D. Beeles, George H. Baker, Jesse Adamson, Samuel Cramer, Samuel Crozier, Samuel L. Miller, William Bunker, Thomas Newton, Horace M. Newton, H. H. Lanham, John O'Laughlin, Greenberry Key and Uriah Blue.
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