History of Jackson County, Michigan, Part 31

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1166

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Since such an institution as a poor-house seems to be a necessity of our day throughout the civilized world, it is not surprising to learn that one exists in this prosperous county. A description of the building and its occupants is, therefore, right and becoming in the pages of this general work :

"The house is a long brick structure, two stories high, with an L in which are the kitchen and women's dining-room. In the kitchen we find one of the paupers cooking, and the articles she turns out look as good as any baked in household ovens. We pass through a long hall, opening from either side of which are the sleeping rooms of the women. The men sleep up stairs, and in one of these rooms we find lying a man whose large frame and well-turned muscles show plainly that he was, when well, a strong, finely built man, but for three years a rupture has confined him to his room, almost helpless.

" All these rooms are marked by great cleanliness, and the in- mates are clean and neat in their personal appearance. Many of them are venerable, motherly looking dames, who appear as if they had sometime known better days. May be they were mothers who worked early and late, taxing their strength to the utmost to rear their little ones; may be those little ones grew to be men and women, and the cares of the world choked up the fount of affection in their breasts. Oh, no, Will Carleton did not draw altogether on his imagination when he penned .Over the Hills to the Poor- house.' That's the romance, but unfortunately for it the reality is apt to be the other way. In this ward we find one of those unfor- tunates who seem calculated to inspire sentiments of both disgust and pity in the mind of the beholder. Sitting on the steps of a back enclosure sits a woman, clad in a stout blue froek, for she has a preju- dice against clothes and frequently destroys them. Sheis bearheaded and seems to enjoy a sun bath. She is insane, not violently so as a rule, but seems to have lost all sense of human nature, and to be degraded to the level of the brute, showing but little more idea of wants. She has been in the Kalamazoo asylum, but was pronounced incurable, and for the last six years has been an inmate of the county-house. She is intensely filthy, and her habits are decidedly more animally natural than humanly decent, and none of the other inmates will associate with her. She is a German woman, unable to speak English, and even Germans find it difficult to understand her speech, so uneouth is it.

"In the house we find extremes meeting. We meet here Thomas Bolton and Mrs. Atkins, both of whom have passed the usual

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term of life, and who have passed nearly a generation in this ref- uge. On the other hand, there are two infant children who were born in this place, and others who never knew any other home.

"In a small stone annex is the room where the men eat and where the blind live, for there are three old men of this class in the institution. One of the inmates is a deaf mute, and he is re- garded as one of the best men to work in the whole number, but then he is young. Back of the blind ward is a room where the most sickening sight of all greets our eyes. On one side of the room are two bunks, and on these there lie two men. One of them is a victim of that horrid disease, St. Vitus dance, and the convul- sive twitching of his muscles sends a shiver down the visitor's spine. The other is bedridden, unable to do anything for himself or to change his own position. In this room these two pass their lives-it seems wrong to say they live-fed and cared for by a con- sumptive inmate.

" The number now confined is 33, about equally divided as to sex. Those who are able work- the men about the farm, garden, barn and wood pile, and the women in the ordinary duties of the house- hold economy.

" The poor farm contains 160 acres, nearly all under cultivation. The crop of grain this year has been large. The superintendents expect to get about five hundred bushels of wheat, while the yield of vegetables will be better than usual.

" The furniture of the rooms is, of course, simple, but none the less clean and substantial. All the wood-work shows the marks of plentiful libations of soap and water, and the bedding is well washed, and aired daily. These precautions have sufficed to keep up the health of the house, and there is little sickness. It should not be supposed that the inmates keep themselves so elean entirely from choice. Many of them left to themselves would re- lapse into a state of filth such as marks too many of the homes of poverty outside. But by a firm discipline they are compelled to keep looking decent, bathing frequently. It is to be regretted that in this latter respect the accommodations are not better, a tub of water being all the facilities thus afforded. The food given them is solid and good. They eat good bread, salt meats, and occasion- ally fresh, a general assortment of vegetables, with tea, and fruit in season. Those who form their ideas of poor-house fare from 'Seven Oaks' and other books of that class will please take notice that Jackson county does not support that kind of a poor- house. The inmates are healthy and appear well fed and contented, and differing in no particular respect from those outside."

The support of poor persons within the county, the maintenance of paupers, and aid to strangers cost the people of the county over $3,000 per annum in direct and indirect taxation.

CHAPTER VII.

THE COURTS OF EARLY TIMES.

In dealing with the court of Jackson county, it is desirable to give only its history from the beginning to that period when its organization may be said to have been completed, and its rules understood and observed. Therefore, in the succeeding pages the legal transactions of the Circuit Court are summarized up to 1838, after which a roll of the president and associate judges is given, with the names of the elerks of court who entered the pro- ceedings. The county officers being partially connected with the courts, the roll of names and year of election are given, and added to this record.

SEAT OF JUSTICE ESTABLISHED.

The Territorial Governor, Hon. Lewis Cass, issued the following proclamation under date Feb. 2, 1831, confirming the action of the commissioners appointed to locate the county-seat of Jackson:

BY LEWIS CASS,

GOVERNOR IN AND OVER THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN.

A Proclamation.

WHEREAS, By an act of the Legislative Council, approved July 31, 1830, anthority is given to the governor of the Territory to appoint commissioners to locate the seats of justice in the several counties where the seats of justice may not have been located, and to receive their report and confirm the same if he approve thereof; and then to issue a proclamation establishing the seats of justice so located ;

AND WHEREAS, Henry Rumsey, Channcey S. Goodrich and John Allen, Esquires, were appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice of the county of Jackson, and have proceeded to execute the said duty, and have by a report signed by them, located the seat of justice of the said county of Jackson at the said village of Jack- sonopolis, in the said county :

Now, therefore, By virtue of the authority given in said act, and in conformity with the said report, I do hereby issue this proclamation, establishing the seat of justice of the said county of Jackson at the said village of Jacksonopolis, in the said county.

In testimony whereof, I have herennto set my hand, and caused the great seal of the Territory to be affixed. Done at Detroit, on the second of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, and of the Inde- pendence of the United States the fifty-fifth.

By the Governor,

JOHN T. MASON,

LEWIS CASS. [L. S.]

Secretary of the Territory.

PIONEER COURTS.

The formation of counties throughout the State in 1829 was fol- lowed by acts of the Legislative assembly of the Territory, relating

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

to the government of such counties, their partition into townships, and the establishment of county and circuit courts in eaeli district so organized. These aets were approved June 29, 1832, and among many others relating to this county was one dealing with. the courts, in the following terms: "That a county court should be established in Jackson county, possessing all the privileges of the other county courts in the Territory, a session of which must be held on the first Tuesday of September each year, and the first session to take place at the house of Horace Blackman. The county of Jackson was created one circuit, and a session of the court ordered to be held on the second Tuesday of September each year, the first session to be held at the house of Horace Black- man."

Always prompt in matters of this kind, the authorities appointed Dr. Oliver Russ judge, Samson Stoddard elerk of court, and David Kyes sheriff. The necessary legal notice was extensively posted, and in accordance with the spirit of the aet, the first court of justice in Jackson county was proclaimed open on the first Tuesday of September, 1832. A grand jury was impaneled, which comprised almost every responsible man then in the neighborhood. Attor- neys Jolın Allen and Olney Hawkins were present, with a few determined litigants ranged in the baek-ground. The court-room, -a parlor in the log house of Horace Blackman-was densely packed with the jurors, lawyers, litigants and the curious. The judge sat patiently waiting the time when the multitude would cease their converse, and settle down to hear the lecture to which he was determined to treat the jurors. It came. Sheriff Kyes read the proclamation a second time, and declared the session of the court to have begun. The judge rose from his seat with a good deal of dignity, took a long look at his assembled friends, and then entered on one of those peculiar addresses heard only in the courts, or at the meetings of a people recently settled in a new country. He said:

" Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, Friends and Countrymen: We are just emerging from the barbarous period of our lives, and that is comprised in the few months which have passed away since we left our Eastern homes in search of Western ones. The State has not forgotten us; but, on the contrary, has recognized our courage by bestowing upon us all the forms of government known in much older counties, and above all she has blessed the county by placing me a judge over you. Gentlemen of the jury, I am proud to assure you that your duties at this session of the court will be of the lightest character, but I trust the time is not far distant when intelligent men, such as you are, will be idle in such a canse, or lawyers, such as I see before me, be without a train of clients. The advaneing civilization of our time requires that litigation and trouble of all sorts should aecompany it, and I must congratulate the State for placing among us, so early in the history of our county, an institution which may, undoubtedly, cause more trouble and anxiety than it will be ever able to relieve.

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

" Gentlemen, in closing this little address, I must not forget to remind you that this is only the beginning of the end. The time will soon be at hand when the juror may lose the curiosity which this court now awakens, and seek a means to escape a visit to the county court-house, that will soon offer us, at least, a larger room to examine and deliberate in. The case of John Doe will come before you; treat it as it deserves."

The jurors were satisfied, the erowd was satisfied; but the happiest mortal in all that gathering was the judge himself, who looked with a smile at the following entries, made by S. Stoddard, Clerk of the County Court, in one of the early record books:

John Doe, selling liquor to Indian; damages, $20. Attorney, John Allen.

Thomas Godfrey vs. Daniel D. T. Warner, trespass; damages, $100. Attorney, O. Hawkins.

Fee bill-Summons, 50c .; docketing, 12gc. ; same, 61e. Date- Sept. 4, 1832. Remarks-Summons issued returnable at next term of court. Returned, served by David Kyes, Sheriff; fee, $1.061.

Under date of Sept. 7. 1832, the fee bill, in the case of Abel Millington 78. Sanford Marsh and Daniel D. T. Warner, comprised a capias, costing 50c .; docketing, 12}c .; filing papers, 25c. So Stoddard remarks :- "Capias issued on filing affidavit of E. W. Morgan. Capias returned with bond for defendant's appearance by David Kyes, Sheriff. Fees, $1.50."

The action of Stephen Grant and Trumbul Cary against Elijah Spencer, elaiming damages of $1,000, was brought before the court in 1832, and a capias was issued returnable at the next term of the Circuit Court.

The Bank of Michigan vs. John Wickham, H. W. Bassett and H. Blackman, a case noticed under date Dec. 18, 1832, is treated to the laconic remark, "Capias issued returnable at next term of Circuit Court. Returned, served by David Kves, Sheriff."

All the cases were returned to the Circuit Court, the judge asked three hearty cheers for the stars and stripes, which were freely given, and then, placing one foot on the chair and his hand under his chin, spoke to the members of that grand jury for over an hour, and might have continued for the succeeding 60 minutes had not the last of the fatigued pioneers followed the example of his friends, leaving Messrs. Stoddard and Kyes for the audience.

It is related by one of the surviving first settlers that the judge was very desirous to indite John Doe, then a tavern-keeper in the township, for selling liquor to Indians. In his charge to the grand jury he referred to it; but the jury requested the judge to make out a bill against the breaker of laws, as they were not conversant with legal forms in their adopted State. Russ snatched up a pen and wrote: John Doe to Jackson County. Dr .. To selling liquor to Indians, $20.00

What became of this "true bill" is not recorded; but it is handed down in legend that Doe never paid the $20, and that Dr. Russ'

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

"true bill" is still passed round the judicial circuits of the State, always forming subject for the leisure moments of modern lawyers.

FIRST REGULAR SESSION, 1833.

The first session of the Circuit Court, held in Jackson county June 3, 1833, was presided over by Hon. William A. Fletcher, with Win. R. DeLand as assistant judge. The commission of Judge Fletcher was issued by Gov. G. B. Porter April 23, 1833. This document appointed him judge of the Circuit Court in and for the Territry of Michigan for four years, or during the pleasure of the Governor of the Territory for the time being.

David Kyes, the sheriff, read this commission, together with that appointing W. R. De Land assistant judge. As the latter named has been so intimately connected with the county, it is well to give a copy of his commission:

GEORGE B. PORTER-Governor in and over the Territory of Michigan.

To all to whom these presents may come, GREETING :- Know ye that reposing special trust and confidence in the integrity and ability of William R. De Land, I have nominated and, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Coun- cil of the said Territory, have appointed him an Associate Judge of the Circuit Court for the county of Jackson; and I do hereby authorize and empower him to execute and fulfill the duties of that office according to law,-to have and to hold the said office with all the rights, privileges and emoluments thereunto belonging, during the pleasure of the governor of the said Territory for the time being.

The date of this document is contemporary with that of Judge Fletcher's commission.

A commission, under the same date, was issued to Hiram Thompson, appointing him associate judge, though he did not take his seat until the November session.

The first grand jury was composed of the following persons : Solomon Brill; Lemuel Blackman, Russell Blackman, Jacksonburgh; Win. H. Pease, Wesley W. Laverty, Elizur B. Chapman, Ezekiel T. Critchet, John Laverty, Jacksonburgh; Zenas Fuller; Jotham Wood; Wm. T. Worden; Charles Henington; Wm. D. Thompson, Jackson- burglı; Samuel Wing; Hiram Austin; Nathan Russ, Jacksonburgh; Abel Benett, Wm. Pool, Nathan Z. Lattimore, Caleb Chapel, Ira Kellogg, Timothy Williams, James Jacobs. Solomon Brill was appointed foreman and authorized by the court to administer oaths to such witnesses as might appear for examination.

The petit panel comprised the following: Nathaniel Boyn, Moses Boyn, George Woodworth, Edward Morrell, Aaron Evans, John Daniels, Josephus Case, Alexander Laverty, Isaac Carrier, Joseph Sutton, John Eames, Ethan Allen, James Fifield, Jeremiah Mar- vin, David Riley, Orrin Gregory, Leander M. Cain, Sanford Marsh, William Worth, Stephen Rowan, Martin Flint, Major D. Mills.

The court ordered that Olney Hawkins, of Ann Arbor, be ap- pointed district attorney. Those preliminaries being completed, the case of Millington against Marsh and others was called, when Attorney Hawkins moved for judgment of nonsuit, owing to some

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

informality in the procedure of plaintiff ; but the motion was over- ruled at the adjourned meeting, June 4, and the plaintiff allowed to file a declaration within 30 days.

A nonsuit ensued in the case of Thos. Godfrey versus Daniel D. T. Warner by consent of plaintiff"'s attorney, John Allen, and Ol- ney Hawkins, the defendant's attorney.

The little difficulty between Harvey Austin and Calvin H. Swain was simply settled by the failure of defendant to appear be- fore the court, or, as Dr. Samson Stoddard, then county clerk, re- ported, "The defendant being three times solemnly called comes not, but makes default."

The United States against Wm. Savacool was almost a cause cel- ebre. Savacool was indicted for larceny. He denied the crime, not wisely, but too well, and was requested to, sojourn for three months in the hospitable jail of Washtenaw county, and instructed to stay there until the costs of the prosecution be paid. All this kindness, resulting from the stealing of property valued at $2.25, was fully appreciated by the prisoner. The jurors who tried this terrible man were Sanford Marsh, Wm. Worth, Geo. Woodworth, Orrin Gregory, David Riley, Aaron Eames, Moses Boyn, Isaac Curier, Major D. Mills, Jeremiah Marvin, Edward Morrell and Martin Flint.

SECOND SESSION, 1833.

The session of November, 1833, was held under President Judge Fletcher, with Associate Judges Hiram Thompson and W. R. De Land. Alexander Laverty proclaimed the court open, after which the commission of Judge II. Thompson was read. The grand jury panel was called, when the following answered to their names : O. Gregory, J. Wood, A. F. Bolton, J. Valentine, J. S. Love, A. B. Gibson, O. Russ, A. Trip, J. McConnell, A. Eames, C. M. Chappel, N. Russ, N. G. Lattimer, J. Tunnicliff, J. Daniels, C. Harrington, (. Harrington, Jr., J. N. Swain, W. D. Thompson, D. Laverty, E. Allen, J. II. Otis, C. Smith. Abram F. Bolton was appointed foreman, and directed to swear any witnesses who might come up for examination, and (). Hawkins, district attorney, pro tem.

Attorneys E. W. Morgan and Jewett appeared at this session, but the docket was so light, showing only five unimportant cases, that they manifested their disapproval by leaving the village the evening of the first day's sitting. On the 12th a jury appeared consisting of S. Brill, R. Davis, J. S. Fifield, Lyman Pease, Hi- ram Austin, J. Marvin, A. Barrett, W. Laverty, J. Laverty, Sam. Roberts, Stephen Rowan, M. Bean, N. Bean, E. B. Chapman, J. Case, R. Updike, Ed. Morrell, J. T. Durand, J. Wellman, M. D. Mills. This jury was immediately discharged, as there did not appear any necessity tor its further attendance, and subsequently the court adjourned without naming a day for the next session.

A session of the court was held June 5, 1834, with the judges named hitherto presiding. A jury was impaneled, and the docket

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disposed of. A most peculiar pair of cases, those of Nehemiah O. Sargeant against Daniel D. T. Warner, and Abel Millington versus Marsh and Warner, seem to have occupied almost the entire atten- tion of the court from its first session in 1833. Sometimes Warner would appear, and sometimes an attachment would be issued against him; but the celebrated defendant still considered himself at liberty to do exactly what he pleased. Attorney C. Clelland ap- peared for Warner at this session, and succeeded in cansing the attachment against him to be discharged.

Ogden B. Laverty was not so successful. He was committed to Washtenaw jail for ten days, and fined $10 for offending the State by battering a citizen.

At the session of December, Edward Mundy, an Illinois attor- ney, was examined by Attorneys G. W. Jewett, James Kingsley and E. W. Morgan; took the usual oath, and was admitted an attorney and counsellor at law. Wm. J. Moody was admitted in a similar manner.

The judgment in the shocking case of Solomon Brill, a man guilty of a crime that sent a thrill of indignation through the hearts of the people, was rather too lenient to be just. The second jury impanelled to try the prisoner found him guilty, when the court delivered the following sentence : " It is considered and adjudged by the court, that the said Solomon Brill be and he is hereby sen- tenced to be imprisoned by solitary imprisonment, and at hard labor, for the period of three years from, and including, this day, and that he pay a fine of $100, together with the costs of this prosecution, and that he stand committed until the sentence be complied with. And it being made to appear to the court that there is no gaol in the county of Jackson aforesaid, suit- able for the confinement of said convict, it is therefore ordered by the court that this sentence be executed by the imprisonment of the said Solomon Brill in the gaol of the county of Washtenaw, in the Territory of Michigan; and the sheriff of the said county of Jackson is hereby anthorized to convey the body of the said Solo- mon Brill into the said county of Washtenaw, and to deliver it to the keeper of the gaol in the said county of Washtenaw."

W. J. Moody appeared for the terrible defendant; but all that could be done by him was to obtain leave to indorse the writ in the case nunc pro tunc, and cause the first jury to disagree. Solo- mon was plaintiff in a number of cases, which were now discon- tinned.

The session of 1835 was principally engaged in investigating a number of civil cases. The case of the State against E. M. Barnes for assault and battery, resulted in a fine of $2. The charge against him of selling spirituous liquors to Indians was postponed to the December session, the defendant and his surety, Samuel Quigley, giving bonds in the sum of $50 each. W. J. Moody was appointed district attorney, Jonathan Wood, foreman of jury, and A. Laverty, crier.

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HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.

The session of 1836 was opened under the presidency of Judge Fletcher and Associate Judge De Land. Harvey Austin was elected foreman of the jury, and Phineas Farrand was appointed prosecuting attorney. The trials of civil cases were proceeded with without ceremony, and disposed of; and the court having admitted Leander Chapman as an attorney and counselor at law, adjourned June 8.

The Circuit Court of 1837 was declared open by the newly ap- pointed crier, Joseph C. Watkins, April 25. Hon. Wm. A. Fletcher, Ethan Allen and David Adams presided. A jury was impaneled, and Moses Benedict being elected chairman, the ex- amination of the docket was proceeded with. W. D. Thompson's name appeared as clerk, and the criminal prosecutions were car- ried out under the name of the State of Michigan versus the United States as formerly.

The president and associate judges, with foreman of jury, Town- send E. Gidley, assembled April 24, 1838. The organization of the session was followed by the motion of Wm. J. Moody to ad- mit David Johnson as an attorney and counselor at law. The aspirant for legal honors having been examined by Phineas Far- rand, P. Morgan and George Miles, and having taken the usual oath, was duly admitted to the Bar of Jackson county. The Peo- ple of the State of Michigan against Jira Payne, Paul B. Ring, Abel F. Fitch, C. H. McClure, Phineas Farrand, were charged with conspiracy this year, and a commission appointed to take depositions of witnesses in the several cases.

The October session proved a feast for the few professors of law permitted to practice at the Bar of Jackson county. Every adult in the county appeared upon that uncertain ground where angels fear to tread, until at length the very hard-working agriculturist sucd the studious lawyer, and of course did not receive any re- ward beyond the experience gained during the progress of his case.

Having had a synopsis of the proceedings of the pioneer courts, we will now take a glance at the roll of judges who presided over the sessions of the tribunal from 1832 to the present time. Be- ginning with the name of Oliver Russ, who was specially com- missioned to preside over the court's first session in 1832, the fol- lowing named judges, associate judges and clerks succeeded him :

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History of Jackson County, Michigan, Part 31

Author: Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1166

Author:
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago [Ill.] : Inter-state Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1166