USA > Kansas > Wyandotte County > History of Wyandotte County, Kansas, and its people, Vol. I > Part 33
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The act of congress admitting Kansas into the Union as a state was approved by the president, January 29, 1861, and from that time for- ward the First judicial district remained the same until an act of the state legislature, approved February 25, 1869, changed Wyandotte coun- ty to the Tenth judicial district, and made the latter consist of the coun- ties of Wyandotte, Johnson and Miami. This district continued to be composed of the same counties, until an act of the general assembly, approved March 5, 1874, detached Linn county from the Sixth judicial district and attached it to the Tenth judicial district. In 1876 an act was passed and approved, which changed Linn county back to the Sixth judicial district, thus leaving the Tenth to consist, as before, of the counties of Wyandotte, Johnson and Miami; and so it continued until an act, approved March 5, 1887, created the Twenty-ninth judicial dis- triet, consisting of Wyandotte county only, as it now exists. The act creating this district set the time for the commencement of the several sessions of each year on the first Monday of March, the first Monday of June, the third Monday of September and the first Monday of December.
THE FIRST TERM.
The first session of the Wyandotte district court was held in Con- stitution Hall, Wyandotte, the record of which read as follows :
"The Territory of Kansas "County of Wyandotte.
"Be it remembered that at a district court for the Third Judicial District of said Territory, sitting within and for the county of Wyandotte, begun and held at the court house in the city of Wyandotte, in said county, on and from the sixth Monday after the Fourth Monday in April. A. D., 1859, towit: On the sixth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
"Present, Hon. Joseph Williams, presiding judge."
The first action of the court was to approve of the appointment of William Roy as deputy clerk of the court. N. C. Claiborn, D. E. James and E. W. O. Clough then severally applied to the court for admission to the bar as practicing attorneys and solicitors in chancery, and having produced to the court satisfactory evidence of their qualifications as
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sneh, they were admitted, and each took the oath required by law. The first eivil ease on the docket, Gottlieb Kneipfer vs. George Lehman, was then dismissed. on motion of the plaintiff and at his cost.
The first grand jury was then empaneled. consisting of William Walker, foreman, R. M. Gray, Christopher Snyder, John Collins, R. L. Vedder, George W. Veal, J. N. Cook, Valorious Rice, James McGrew, Frank Betton, Charles E. Sawyer, S. S. Bradey, Alfred Robinson, Geo. Parker, Joseph W. N. Watson, Chester Coburn. David H. Toomb, Darius Crouch and James W. Craft. Upon being duly sworn and charged by the judge as to their duties, they retired to their chamber to consider such matters as might be brought before them.
Among other eivil actions the case of Lois Kinney vs. Charles Robin- son, Abelard Guthrie, Samuel N. Simpson, doing business under the style and description of the Quindaro Town Company, and Charles H. Chapin, Otis Webb and Samnel N. Simpson, was called, and, the defend- ants defaulting, judgment was rendered against them in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $393.25 and the costs in the matter expended. This was the first judgment of money rendered by the court. After transacting some other business, the court adjourned until Wednesday, June 8th, when, after convening, Charles S. Glick and Daniel B. Hadley were appointed master commissioners for the county. Both of these gentlemen then filed their bonds in the sum of $1,000 each, and otherwise became qualified for the duties of their offices. On this day S. A. Cobb, Jacob S. Boreman, Thomas J. Williams and M. D. Trefren severally applied to the court for admission to the bar as practicing attorneys and solicitors in chancery, and upon the production of the proper evidence were admitted and qualified accordingly. Also on this day the grand jury, by their foreman, presented in open court the following:
"To the Hon. Joseph Williams, Associate Indge of the Territory of Kansas and Judge of the Third Judicial District: The grand jury for the county of Wyan- dotte and territory aforesaid beg leave to make the following report : That there is no jail in said county or place for the confinement of prisoners, and would recom- mend that the county commissioners procure a suitable place for the confinement of prisoners.
(Signed) WILLIAM WALKER, Foreman."
Wherenpon the court ordered the report to be spread upon the record of proceedings, and also ordered the clerk to transmit a certified- copy of the same to the board of supervisors doing eounty business.
On the third day of the term, eases were docketed against C. N. H. Moor and John D. Brown for the offense of "selling liquor."
AN EARLY DAY COURT SCENE.
D. B. Hadley and "Billy" MeDowell were earnestly engaged in ar- guing an important case in the district court, when Judge Johnson called
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the case of Lewis M. Cox as administrator vs. Margaret Getsler, in the probate court. This case elicited great interest, as two women appeared in court, each claiming to be the lawful wife of the deceased, Andrew Getsler. The assets of the estate consisted of one small house, several barrels of Monongahela whisky, besides numerous jugs, bottles and demi- johns of liquor. The little house just west of the old Brevator building was the one owned by the deceased, but possession of that portion of the estate had but little attraction in comparison with the desire to secure control of the liquid portion of it. The attorneys were General A. C. David and Colonel G. W. Glick. These gentlemen entered into the eon- test with spirit, and the case was conducted in such a manner as to create a feeling of bitterness in the minds of the counsel toward each other: the result was that the trial partook more of the nature of a personal quarrel between attorneys than of a case in a court of justice. General David was probably one of the finest orators that ever addressed a court in Kansas, and as he warmed up with his case he became very eloquent. Glick, fearing the impression David would make on the jury, if permitted to proceed with his argument, attempted to badger him. As counsel grew excited it was impossible to proceed with business in the distriet conrt on account of the noise. Judge Williams ordered the sheriff to notify the probate judge if he did not keep better order he would arrest him for contempt. Judge Johnson, on being so informed by the sheriff, sent back word to Judge Williams that he did not recog- nize his authority to interfere in affairs of his court, and that he had better not, if he did not want to be sent to jail for thirty days. Just at this junetion of affairs Vol Rheineher and John Moody, at that time boys about seventeen years of age, passed by the hall playing Yankee Doodle on a drum and fife; Judge Williams being passionately fond of music sang ont, "Mr. Sheriff adjourn court until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning," and, making a dive for his hat, at the same time disappeared down the stairs and followed the boys around in the hot sun until he was literally exhausted, thus happily preventing a conflict of authority be- tween the district and probate courts.
DRAMSHOP CASES.
On the fourth day of the session Philip B. Hathaway, upon applica- tion, was admitted to practice as an attorney at law and solicitor in chancery in the several counties of the territory. The same day a case was docketed. upon an indictment. against John F. Wise for the offense of "keeping a dram-shop." Thus it appears that the conflict between temperance and intemperance began in the first term of the Wyandotte district court. The conflict still goes on, but the heavy fines now as- sessed for the violation of the liquor laws show that the cause of tem- perance generally wins. At this first term of court John Burk, Thomas
Vol. I-19
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Purtie and Francis Tracy, natives of Ireland, and John Link, a native of Prussia, were, upon application naturalized as citizens of the United States.
EARLY MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
The first term of the Wyandotte district court continued in session seven days. Many civil and a few criminal cases were docketed, nearly all of which were continued. The attorneys admitted and composing the bar were Daniel B. Hadley. D. A. Bartlett, Glick, Bartlet & Glick, W. L. MeMath, J. W. Wright & Son, William Roy, D. E. James and B. O. Demming.
The original official seal of the Wyandotte district court consisted of a green wafer seal, with the picture of some species of plant thereon, but without any letters or figures whatever. Afterward, in February, 1860, a new seal, containing the picture of a balance and the words "First District Court, Territory of Kansas," was adopted.
The first petit jury empaneled in the county was composed as follows: V. J. Lane, foreman; Matthew Mudeater, Hugh Gibbons, Perley Pike, Elisha Sorter, Elias S. Busiek, Leonard Lake, David Pear- son, W. D. Ferguson, Daniel Croyle, Thomas Sherman and C. H. Carpenter.
The probate records of the county show that some probate business for persons living within the Wyandotte purchase was transacted while it belonged to Leavenworth county; the first letters of administration having been issued May 11. 1857, to Charles B. Garrett, upon the estate of Henry Garrett, deceased. The first probate business transacted in Wyandotte county was the granting of letters of administration, on April 5, 1859, to Mrs. Josephine S. Cann, on the estate of her deceased husband, William B. Cann. Catherine Warpole was the first guardian appointed in the county, she being appointed April 22, 1859, as guardian of James, Daniel and Lydia Warpole, minor heirs of Catharine M. Warpole, deceased. These minor heirs were the first wards in the county. On April 28, 1859, John II. Miller was appointed curator of the estate of John Warpole, deceased. Jacques W. Johnson was the first probate judge of the county. A list of all his successors appears elsewhere in this work under the head of "county officers."
The first session of the Wyandotte district court, which convened June 6, 1859, was presided over by Hon. Joseph Williams, associate justice of the territory of Kansas. He also presided at the fall term of the court in the same year. The next year, Wyandotte county hav- ing been transferred from the Fort Scott to the Leavenworth district, the Hon. John Pettit, judge of that district, presided over the Wyan- dotte district court, holding two terms, the last one being the term held under the territorial organization.
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A JUDGE WHO PLAYED POKER.
A history of Wyandotte, in speaking of Judge John Pettit, the second judge of the Wyandotte district court, says: "Pettit was ill- natured, petulant, high-tempered, profane, tyrannical and abusive, but withal as clear-headed and able a jurist as ever donned the judicial ermine of Kansas. It was nothing unusual for him to go to Kansas City and play poker and drink whisky all night. The bar generally had to suffer for it the next day. In this connection we cannot refrain from giving an incident that occurred at the Garno House during one of his terms of conrt. S. L. Norris, a young man from Vermont, who lived by his wits, brought ont a carpet sack of bank notes on the St. Albans Bank, which had burst in the crash of 1857. Judge James, Colonel Weir, Norris and one or two other parties, set up a job on Pettit and got him to playing poker. The old man was permitted to win nearly every game, and every time he won the boys put out a $20 bill on the broken bank of St. Albans, Pettit making the change in good money. At the close of the term the old judge was in high glee, as his capacious wallet was filled with $20 bills. But when he came to pay Mrs. Halford his hotel bill and presented one of his $20 notes, he learned the bank was broken; a second and third tender meeting a refusal on the same grounds, he saw that he had been sold. He returned to Leaven- worth minus about $300 in cash, with about $1,000 in worthless money, a sadder but wiser man."
THIE COURT HOUSE BLOWN DOWN.
One of those delightful zephyrs peculiar to Kansas was making everything hum the morning Judge Pettit first opened court in Wyan- dotte and after climbing up to the court room, which was on the fourth floor, he was nearly out of breath, being a very fat man. Just as he began to call the docket, an unusually stiff breeze sprang up, which made the structure tremble from foundation to turret. When the building began to vibrate he said :
"Mr. Sheriff, can't you get some room on the ground in which to hold court ?"
That official replied that there was no room large enough unless he took one of the churches.
Just then a little stiffer breeze came, and the Judge fairly roared, "Mr. Sheriff, adjourn court until 2 o'clock and get a church-take a church." And he started for the street. He had scarcely gotten half way down when some one eried out, "the building is falling!" The crowd made a rush for the stairway, and soon the old Judge found him- self crowded and pushed to the door, where he barely escaped injury from the brick and debris of the falling building.
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THIE JUDGES WHO FOLLOWED.
Judge Pettit was succeeded by Hon. William C. McDowell, judge of the First judicial district of the state. He served until the close of 1864, and was succeeded by Judge David J. Brewer, who served for the next four years until 1869, or until Wyandotte county became a part of the Tenth judicial district. The court was then presided over for the year 1869 by Judge John T. Burris, of the Tenth district. In 1870 Hiram Stevens became judge of the Tenth district and served as such until 1882. He was succeeded by W. R. Wagstaff, who served until 1886, when James C. Hindman became the judge, serving nntil old Wyandotte county was made the twenty-ninth judicial district, in 1887.
When this district was formed the Hon. O. L. Miller was appointed judge thereof, and in the fall of 1887, was elected to the office. Before the expiration of the term for which he was elected Judge Miller re- signed to engage in the practice of law with a large corporation clien- tage. The IIon. Henry L. Alden was appointed by the governor to fill the vacancy. He was chosen at subsequent elections and held the office until 1903, when the Hon. E. L. Fisher, who had been elected in the pre- ceding November, came to fill the position of honor. The Hon. Me- Cabe Moore was elected in the fall of 1904 and at the expiration of his term was succeeded by Judge Fisher, the present encumbent.
THE GROWTH OF LITIGATION.
The growth of the city and its large interests at the mouth of the Kansas river brought with it a large increase of litigation, and it became necessary for the legislature to provide additional courts. The court of common pleas was created in 1891, by act of the legisla- ture, and the Hon. Thomas P. Anderson was the first judge. He served the first term under appointment and one term by election, and was succeeded by the Hon. William G. Holt who served two full terms, but resigned during his third term. The Hon. L. C. True was appointed to the vacancy. He was succeeded at the election of 1908 by the Hon. Richard Higgins for the short term and the Hon. II. J. Smith for the full term.
A circuit court was organized in 1907, by special act of the Kansas legislature, and the Hon. F. D. Hutchings was appointed as the first judge. IIe was succeeded in 1908 by W. M. Whitelaw, who had been chosen at the election in November, 1907, but the court was abolished during his term.
The next effort to relieve the courts of a part of the burden of litiga- tion resulted in the organization of the Second division of the district court under act of the legislature. The Hon. L. C. True, was the first judge by appointment. In the election of 1910 the Hon. F. D. Hutch- ings was elected judge, succeeding Judge True, and is now on the bench.
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THE DISTRICT COURT JUDGES.
Judge William C. McDowell, the first one that served under the state organization, lived at Leavenworth. In politics he was a Democrat and a man of fine legal attainments. Soon after the close of the Civil war, about 1866, he visited St. Louis on business, and there fell from the driver's seat of an omnibus and was killed. Judge David J. Brewer also lived at Leavenworth. Some time after serving as district judge, he was elected to the supreme bench of the state of Kansas. Subse- quently he was appointed and served as a United States circuit judge, and elosed his long career as a jurist, and a member of the supreme court of the United States; his death occurred in 1909. Judge John T. Burris lived at Olathe, Johnson county, when he served as judge of the Wyan- dotte district court. Ile was a man of sound ability and was accredited by some as being the best judge who ever sat on the bench at Wyandotte. The home of Judge Hiram Stevens was at Paola, Miami county, but his law office was in Kansas City, Kansas. He served as judge of the court for twelve years. In politics he was a Republican. Judge Wagstaff also lived at Paola and was a Demoerat. Judge Hindman resided at Olathe, and was a Republican. Judge O. L. Miller, living in Kansas City, Kansas, is a Republican. After his retirement from the bench Judge Miller served a term in congress as a representative from the Second distriet. £ He was for several years associated with W. J. Buehan and his brother, Charles A. Miller, in the law firm of Miller, Buchan and Miller, which was dissolved not long ago by the retirement of Mr. Buchan. Judge Henry L. Alden, now one of the oldest members of the Wyandotte county bar, is still engaged in the practice of his profession. He has held many offices of public trust, his last public service being as city counsellor during the administration of Mayor Dudley E. Cornell. Judge McCabe Moore, who made an enviable record on the bench, is now assistant United States distriet attorney, having succeeded Judge J. S. West who was elected associate justice of the state supreme court in 1910.
Of the former judges of the common pleas court since it was organ- ized, Judge Anderson, Judge Holt and Judge Higgins, all are praetie- ing law in Kansas City, Kansas. Judge Higgins is the present city counsellor.
LAWYERS OF THE EARLY DAYS.
Among the 135 attorneys residing in Wyandotte county and prae- ticing in the courts, there are not to exceed a dozen who were there thirty years ago. Among those who have been there twenty-five years and longer may be mentioned a few. Judge Henry L. Alden, John A. IIale and Nathan Cree are perhaps the oldest members of the bar. Following
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them were Henry McGrew, L. W. Keplinger, J. O. Fife, W. J. Buchan, D. J. Maher, Judge T. P. Anderson, Thomas J. White, J. E. McFadden, James S. Gibson, James F. Getty, Junius W. Jenkins, A. L. Berger, L. C. True, F. D. Hutehings, James M. Mason, Winfield Freeman, Judge O. L. Miller, W. A. Snook, K. P. Snyder, the Littick Brothers, Judge MeCabe Moore, I. F. Bradley and T. A. Pollock.
Among the lawyers of the old days, fondly remembered by the older citizens, were such men as Stephen A. Cobb, who represented the dis- triet in congress when Kansas was young, Judge Jesse Cooper, Judge Isaac B. Sharpe, Daniel B. Hadley, William S. Carroll, John B. Seroggs, Judge Hiram Stephens, Fred D. Mills, S. M. Garrett, Judge R. P. Clark, Alson C. Davis and Silas Armstrong.
CHAPTER XXVI.
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS.
THE FIRST MOVEMENTS-KANSAS CITY TOWN COMPANY-CITY IN- CORPORATED-WHEN ARMOURDALE GOT A START-PLATTING OF ARGEN- TINE-PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS-KANSAS PATRIOTISM AROUSED-CALL FOR A STATE MASS MEETING A GREAT CIVIC DEMONSTRATION-COLONEL COBB'S LOGICAL ADDRESS-GOVERNOR'S CONSOLIDATION PROCLAMATION- FIRST CITY OFFICERS-ESTABLISHED WARD BOUNDARIES-FIRST REGULAR MUNICIPAL ELECTION-THE METROPOLITAN POLICE-OFFICIALS OF THE CITY-GOVERNMENT BY COMMISSION.
The border strife and the Civil war that followed brought paralysis to Wyandotte and Quindaro, as it did to the rival cities of Kansas City and Westport in Missouri. The rush of white settlers to the land that formerly was occupied by the Indians that commenced in 1854 suddenly ceased. Everything was at a standstill. Those who came this way came to fight on one side or the other-not to build cities or till the soil. But after it was over and peace was restored, there came another rush of settlers to the new state, and then followed an era of development such as was never witnessed before in the history of the world. And in the next ten years, before the-ambitious cities of Leavenworth and Atchison were aware of it, those things occurred that laid the foundation for the great city that has been builded here at the junction of these two rivers as the permanent gateway whose doors swing both ways, from east to west and from west to east.
While Wyandotte was taking on a new growth and gave promise of fulfilling the expectations of its founders, it was also observed that new cities and towns were starting up in the Kansas river valley as rivals to Wyandotte and right under the eyes of her citizens. But instead of extending the limits the men of Wyandotte merely let them grow and in later years when they were big enough and strong enough, they were all gathered into one great big city.
THE FIRST MOVEMENTS.
It was fitting, also, that the new impetus to the building of a great city came through the utilization of the lands along the Kansas river
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valley which now is the greatest center of industrial, commereial and railroad activity on the Missouri river. David E. James, one of the early pioneers, had erected a two story house in 1857 on the strip of land lying between the state line and the Kansas river near its mouth, and thus a settlement had been started. This was United States land at that time, being claimed by Silas Armstrong under the treaty between the Wyandots and the United States, as his "float." Certain leading Wyandots had been granted a section of land, each to be located in any spot they might choose; hence the term "float." The float comprised a narrow strip of land lying between the state line and the Kansas river, running south from the Missouri river about one mile. Many acres of it were washed away by the shifting channels of the rivers, but in after years most of this land was reclaimed.
Much might be written of the early history of the Armstrong float. Several families resided on the point from 1856 to 1860, who were re- garded only as squatters. They obtained a living by various means. There was a family named Johnson there then, having a habitation where for many years the Missouri river ran, a few hundred yards north- east of the Anglo-American packing (Fowler's) house. This family was known to the early settlers as fishermen. The family of Edward Olivet was recognized by Armstrong as having a squatter's interest in the land, and while the towns of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte were being built, Mr. Olivet was the agent of Armstrong for the sale of sand and wood to the people of either town. Mr. Henry Williams also resided ont in land now claimed by the "Big Muddy." There was also a house full of negro people in that now an imaginary place on the point. The house heretofore mentioned as the "land office" building was a structure of twelve rooms, and had its history. Settlers of early date now reside in Kansas City who remember this old house as having had the reputation of being haunted. It was said that the ghost of a Willis Wills would, on certain occasions, appear in the house and make claims to the ground on which the building in which he once resided stood. as the property of his heirs. The claims of the Missouri river were pressed with such irresistible force that when the land became water, the ghost departed. Business is now too lively in this neighbor- hood to permit the existence of ghosts, and that old idea is rapidly fad- ing away. Near the state line on Central avenue, the widow of Edward Olivet-Mrs. Sophia Olivet- lived for many years, the only one of the original squatters on the Armstrong "float" claiming a home on this tract.
KANSAS CITY TOWN COMPANY.
The Kansas City, Kansas, Town Company was formed in 1868, by Silas Armstrong, David E. James, Dr. George B. Wood, Luther HI. Wood, William Weir, Thomas Ewing Jr., T. HI. Swope and N. Mc-
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Alpine. The town site was situated upon parts of fractional sections Nos. 10, 11 and 14, town 11, south of range 25 east, lying north of the old bed of Turkey creek, east of the Kansas river, south of the Missouri river, and bounded on the east by the state line between Missouri and Kansas, and comprised the following named tracts, viz: Two tracts of land belonging to George B. Wood; two tracts of land belonging to D. E. James; one tract belonging jointly to George B. Wood and N. Me- Alpine, and one piece of land lying between the lands of Thomas Ewing on the south and lands of D. E. James on the north, between Armstrong street and Kansas river. The site was surveyed by John McGee, civil engineer, April 24, 1869, and recorded with the register of deeds of Wyandotte county May 3, 1869.
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