USA > Minnesota > Ramsey County > St Paul > History of Ramsey County and the city of St. Paul, including the Explorers and pioneers of Minnesota > Part 40
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The industries and capital of St. Paul having been during all the earlier period of its existence, and up to quite a recent date, devoted almost exclu- sively to commerce and finance, were much more prolific of important litigation than the manufac- turing, lumbering and agricultural interests of other portions of the state. It is a well ascer- tained fact that any given amount of capital in- vested in the various branches of business which combine to create commerce, will be productive of more litigation than three times the amount engaged in any kind of manufacturing. It is quite natural, therefore, that about the financial and commercial center of the state should be found the leading representatives of the bar, and this is said without any disparagement of the in- dividuals who compose the bars of other counties of the state, many of whom are second to none in Ramsey county, or, we can truthfully say, in the entire Northwest.
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THE EARLY LAWYERS.
In treating of the bar of this county we will divide the subject into two periods, the traditional, the materials for which rest mainly in the recol- lection of a very few living men, and the record period, which covers the time since the methods of civilization, superseded those of the rude fron- tier.
Much more interest usually attaches to the early days of a country, when everything is fresh, free and disorderly, than to the more regular proceedings of courts and lawyers in after times, when judicial work is conducted in a manner which robs it of the possibility of humor, romance or adventure. We shall therefore endeavor to record the history of the traditional period as fully as the facts attainable will permit.
Henry II. Sibley, now a distinguished citizen of St. Paul, was undoubtedly the first person who ever engaged in the practice of the law in any part of what is now the state of Minnesota. In 1835 and '36, he resided at St. Peter's, now Men- dota, in Dakota county, and was connected with one of the great fur companies which occupied the country at that time. He was not then ad- mitted to the bar, but being a young man of fine ability, and having familiarized himself with the principles of common law, and there being no one else in the country who made any pretensions in that direction, the necessities of the situation in- duced him to hang outa shingle announcing him- self as an attorney and counsellor at law. Even tradition does not inform us that Mr. Sibley ever tried a case, as there were no courts nearer than Prairie du Chien, except the one held by by him- self as a justice of the peace, which we will speak of hereafter. General Sibley still retains the pro- fessional sign he put put up forty-six years ago. It is ornamented with a bullet hole, which was accidentally made in it from the careless handling of a gun by some one, indicating that powder and lead were more in vogue in those days than the wordy weapons of the profession.
General Sibley was also the first judicial officer who ever executed the functions of a court of law in any part of the new state of Minnesota. IIe was commissioned a justice of the peace in 1835 or 1836 by Governor Chambers, of Iowa, with a jurisdiction extending from twenty miles south of Prairie du Chien, to the British boundary on the north, White river on the west and the Mis-
sissippi on the east. When he committed an of- fender for a crime of sufficient magnitude to pre- clude his trying and sentencing him, there was no place to send him except Prairie du Chien, which often involved the necessity of holding him for a long time before an opportunity would occur to dispose of him. Tradition says that this magistrate would some times in cases of pressing urgency extend his jurisdiction into Wisconsin on the east side of the Mississippi. One instance of which is well authenticated. A man named Phalen, from whom the lake which supplies St. Paul with water took its name, was charged with the murder of a discharged sergeant from the United States army named Ilays. The murder was committed on the east side of the Mississippi in Wisconsin. Justice Sibley held the examination, committed the offender to jail at Prairie du Chien, and he was duly forwarded and no ques- tions asked by any one. After the organization of our territory, General Sibley was duly ad- mitted to the bar.
Prior to the admission of Wisconsin into the Union, which occurred on the 29th day of May, 1848, all the country west of the St. Croix river and east of the Mississippi was a part of the county of St. Croix in the territory of Wisconsin, which was a fully organized county for judicial purposes, having its district court, and all proper county officials. The first attempt at holding a term of the district court west of the St. Croix, was in 1842. Joseph R. Brown had been appointed clerk of the court and had his residence on the
bank of Lake St. Croix at the point where now stands the city of Stillwater. Mr. Brown was not a lawyer, but he was a man of extraordinary ability, enlarged experience on the frontier and among the Indians. ITis versatile talents fitted him for anything he undertook, and there were very few things, from playing the fife in the army to editing the leading newspaper in St. Paul, and framing the state constitution that he did not take a prominent part in. He was among the first lumbermen on the St. Croix, Indian trader with the Sioux, member of the legislature of both Wisconsin and Minnesota territories, United States agent for the Sionx, editor of the St. Paul Pioncer, and other papers, and a member of the constitutional convention that framed our present state constitution, and in
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HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
every important position he held he displayed marked ability. His last undertaking was the invention of a steam motor to traverse the west- ern prairies. On this idea he expended large sums of money, but died before bringing it to a state of practical utility.
In 1842, Judge Irwin, then one of the territorial judges of Wisconsin, came up the river from Prairie du Chien to hold a term of the court which had been appointed for St. Croix county. He landed at Fort Snelling, and could find no one who could give him any information about local- ities, or anything concerning the court, until he reached the trading house of Norman W. Kittson. which was situated a mile or two above the fort, at Big Spring, and near where the St. Louis house subsequently stood. Mr. Kittson gave him the address of Joseph R. Brown, the clerk of the court, and furnished him a horse on which to reach Stillwater; after a weary journey he arrived at Lake St. Croix, but could find neither habita- tion nor human being, until he discovered a log house, which was occupied by Joseph R. Brown, the clerk of his court. Either Brown had not been informed of the contemplated term or had forgotten it, but at all events no preparations had been made for holding it, and the disgusted judge took the first chance down the river, swearing it was the last time he would ever answer a sum- mons to St. Croix county. Tradition [says, that Brown being of a speculative turn of mind, had procured the appointment of the term for the pur- pose of advertising the country, and luring immi- gration to his region.
Five years elapsed before another attempt was made to hold a term of court in St. Croix county. In June, 1847, the district court convened at Still- water, Judge Dunn, then chief justice of Wis- consin territory, presiding. Much interest was felt in this term on account of the trial of the Indian Chief "Wind," who was charged with murder. Many noted attorneys of Wisconsin took advantage of this opportunity to visit the remote county of St. Croix. Among those who attended the court were: Ben. C. Eastman, of Platteville; Frank Dunn, Samuel J. Crawford, Moses M. Strong, of Mineral Point; Thomas P. Burnette, of Patch Grove; Wiram Knowlton, of Prairie du Chien, and others.
Judge Dunn appointed Samuel Crawford pros-
ecuting attorney for the term, and Ben. C. East- man to defend the prisoner " Wind." The trial was had and the chief acquitted. This was the first jury trial that took place within the present limits of Minnesota, as well as the first criminal trial in a court of record, and this term was the only one ever held within the limits of the state while it was part of Wisconsin.
When Wisconsin was admitted into the Union in May, 1848, its western boundary was the Mis- sissippi river up to the mouth of St. Croix, and the lake and river St. Croix beyond that point. The adoption of this boundary left all the ter- ritory west of the St. Croix and east of the Mis- sissippi without any government. Stillwater was then something of a settlement, having the larg- est population of any place west of the new state, included in which were some lawyers. Morton S. Wilkinson had been living there since early in the year 1847. Henry L. Moss located there in April, 1848.
Morton S. Wilkinson is a native of New York, and a man of great natural ability and brilliancy. As an advocate he has few equals. His figure is tall and commanding ; his features are thin, marked and intellectual. He has been in the practice of his profession ever since his arrival at Stillwater, and has filled many positions of honor and trust, and has always per- formed all his public duties with ability and fidelity. He was once register of deeds of Ramsey county. Has been in both branches of the local legislature. Was United States Senator, and member of the House of Rep- resentatives from the state of Minnesota. He practiced for many years as a member of the Ramsey county bar ; lived for some time in Man- koto, and now resides at Wells, in Faribault county, and is county attorney there. Mr. Wil- kinson enjoys excellent health and has the pros- pect of a long life before him.
IIenry L. Moss was appointed United States District Attorney for the territory of Minnesota at its organization, and held the office during the administration under which he was appointed, and until Governor Gorman succeeded Governor Ramsey, performing its duties with ability and success. Mr. Moss is a good lawyer and has seen muclı practice in the early days of the territory and state. He removed to St. Paul from Still-
237
THE FIRST COURT HOUSE AND JAIL.
water about the time of the organization of the territory, and at one time was engaged in the practice of his profession with Lafayette Em- mett, the first chief justice of the state.
For many years Mr. Moss has not practiced, but has devoted his attention to the business of insu- rance, in which he is now largely engaged. He resides in St. Paul, and is in vigorous health.
On account of the uncertainty created by the anomalous condition of things existing in the strip of country embracing Stillwater and St. Paul, as to whether it was within any political jurisdiction, or had any government, no courts were held west of the St. Croix, not even justices' courts, during the year 1848. To remedy this difficulty, the lead- ing citizens met for consultation in the month of August, 1848, and adopted the theory that the admission of a part of the territory of Wisconsin as a state did not necessarily disorganize the rem- nant. They opened correspondence with John Catlin of Madison, Wisconsin, who was the Sec- retary of the territory of Wisconsin at the time of its admission as a state, and who had become, ex officio, Governor, on the election of Governor Dodge to the United States senate, and invited him to come to Stillwater, and proclaim the gov- ernment of the territory to be in force over the remnant of it which was left. Accordingly, in the month of September, 1848, Governor Catlin, with his family, removed to Stillwater, and as- sumed the position of chief magistrate of the ter- ritory of Wisconsin, and issued his proclamation for the election of a delegate to congress. An election was held in November following, and Henry H. Sibley was chosen. He was admitted to a seat in congress, and the next year the terri- tory of Minnesota was organized, as we shall see hereafter.
The first effort that was ever made toward the erection of a court house in the territory, was in Stillwater, in December, 1847. The following subscription paper was circulated, with the suc- cess which it bears on its face. It shows that even in that very early day the inhabitants were public spirited according to their means.
"We the undersigned hereby agree to pay the amount set opposite our respective names to be invested in a court house and jail in the town of Stillwater, to be built according to a plan sub- mitted by Jacob Fisher, provided the county of
St. Croix will pay the balance of the cost of said building after deducting $1,200 which amount we propose to raise by this subscription and pay the same to the holder of this paper as may be required for the progress of the building."
STILLWATER, December 18th, 1847.
John McKusick, .. $400 00
Jacob Fisher, 50 00
Churchill & Nelson, 200 00
Orange Walker for Marine L. Co., 100 00
W. Holcombe, 50 00
John W. Brewster, 50 00
John Morgan. 20 00
WVm. Cave, 25 00
Wm. Stanchfield,. paid.
50 00
A. Harris,. 25 00
Jesse Taylor, 25 00
Win. Willim, 25 00
C. Carli,. 25 00
A. Northrup, 100 00
Nelson McCarty, 15 00
M. S. Wilkinson, 15 00
Quite a number of the subscribers to this en- terprise are still living and will be recognized by the old settlers. The court house was erected on the summit of one of the hills in Stillwater and the first court of 1849 was held in it.
The only evidence we have been able to find of any legal proceedings being had in St. Croix county in 1848, is the record of a writ of attach- ment issued out of the district court at the suit of Thomas H. West, against Anson Northrup for the recovery of $3,100 39-100. It is attested in the name of the Honorable Chas. Dunn, judge of the district, on the 15th day of May, 1848, and signed by Joseph R. Brown, "clerk D. C. S. C. C. W. T.," which interpreted, means " clerk of the district court of St. Croix county, Wisconsin territory."
To this writ is a return of the sheriff, John Morgan, of service.
Nothing further appears to have been done in the suit, and it is quite reasonable to suppose that Mr. Northrup was armed with a good and suffi- cient defence, or the uncertainty of the jurisdic- tion of Wisconsin over the county deterred the prosecution.
On the 3d day of March, 1849, the organic act creating the territory of Minnesota was passed by congress. It is entitled "an act to establish
238
HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
the territorial government of Minnesota." The president of the United States appointed Alex- ander Ramsey, governor of the territory; Charles K. Smith, secretary; Aaron Goodrich, chief jus- tice; David Cooper and Bradley B. Meeker, as- sociate justices; Alexander Mitchell, marshal, and IIenry L. Moss, United States attorney.
At the time of the passage of this act the only attorneys residing in what is now Ramsey county were David Lambert, Wm. D. Phillips and Bushrod W. Lott, all of St. Paul.
David Lambert was admitted to the bar of New York, and came from Madison, Wisconsin, to St. Paul in 1848. He was a man of fine ability, but his career was short. He was drowned from a steamboat on the Mississippi river, in November, 1849, aged about thirty years.
William D. Phillips was a native of Maryland, and was admitted to the bar of that state. He came to St. Paul in 1848, and was the first dis- trict attorney of the county of Ramsey. He was elected to this office in 1849. He continued in the practice of his profession at St. Paul until the election of President Pierce, under whose ad- ministration he received an appointment to a clerkship in one of the departments at Washing- ton. He never returned to St. Paul and is sup- posed to have died many years ago.
Mr. Phillips was a very excentric person, and many anecdotes are related of him. On one oc- casion an opposing attorney, who had very re- cently arrived in the territory, in the trial of a cause, cited a clause of the statutes against him, and endeavored to put a construction upon it, which Phillips controverted. In the discussion which followed. the new attorney made some classical allusion, in which the name of Cicero or Demosthenes occurred. Mr. Phillips in replying, became very much excited, and rising in a flight of eloquence. he said, "The gentleman may be a classical scholar. HIe may be as eloquent as De- mosthenes. IIe has probably ripped with old Euripides, socked with old Socrates, and canted with old Cantharides, but gentlemen of the jury, what does he know about the laws of Minne- sota."
Asillustrative of his possessing in a high degree the quality which every lawyer is popularly sup- posed to excell in, that of never forgetting to charge for services performed, on one occasion
Henry M. Rice presented him with a lot on Third street, on which to erect an office, and when he pre- sented his bill for services there was an item of four dollars for drawing the deed.
Bushrod W. Lott is a native of New Jersey. He removed to Illinois when quite young, and was admitted to the bar of that state. He com- menced the practice of law in St. Paul in 1848. Ile has been a member of the house of represen- tatives, in the legislature several terms, United States consul at Tehauntepec, and has held other public trusts. Mr. Lott is still a resident of St. Paul, but has not practiced his profession for many years.
Soon after the passage of the act establishing the territorial government of Minnesota, the officers appointed to organize it, made their ap- ' pearance, and on the first day of June, 1849, Gov- ernor Ramsey issued his proclamation declaring the territorial government duly organized.
The organic act by section 9 provided "that the judicial power of said territory shall be vested in a supreme court, district courts, probate courts, and in justices of the peace. The supreme court shall consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and who shall hold a term at the seat of government of said territory annually." *
* * " The said territory * shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices of the supreme court at such times and places as may be pre- scribed by law ; and the said judges shall after their appointments, respectively reside in the district which shall be assigned to them."
The act then proceeds to define many matters pertaining to the courts, their jurisdiction, and the administration of justice, which are not of sufficient interest to be further quoted here.
In pursuance of this law the Governor on the 11th day of June, 1849, issued the proclamation dividing the territory into judicial districts, and assigning the judges to them. The county of St. Croix alone was erected into the First district, and Chief Justice Aaron Goodrich was assigned to it, all the rest of the territory was divided into the Second and Third districts, and Judge Meeker was assigned to the Second, and Judge Cooper to the Third.
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EARLY COURTS.
In the same proclamation the governor ap- pointed the first term of the district court for the First district to be held at Stillwater on the second Monday of August, 1849, to continue one week, and the second term in said district to be held at the same place on the second Monday of Feb- ruary, 1850, also to continue one week.
In pursuance of this proclamation the court was held, Chief Justice- Goodrich presiding, as- sisted by Judge Cooper. The following editorial notice of the same appears in the "Chronicle & Register " published at St. Paul on August 25th, 1849.
" The court for the First judicial district, Hon. Aaron Goodrich presiding, assisted by Hon. David Cooper, closed its first term on Saturday last after a laborious sitting of six days. Consid- erable more business was brought before the court than had been anticipated. Thirty-five cases stood upon the trial docket at the opening of the term. The proceedings were for the first two or three days somewhat crude, owing to the assembly of a bar composed of persons from nearly every state in the Union, holding all their natural prejudices in favor of the practice of the courts they had recently left, and against those of all other places in Christendom. * * * * The grand jury found ten bills during their ses- sion, as follows : one for assault and battery with intent to maim, one for perjury, four for selling liquor to Indians, and four for keeping gaming houses. Only the first were tried, the others lying over until the next term."
The article speaks in high praise of M. S. Wil- kinson who was the prosecuting attorney, and of the hospitality of of the people of Stillwater.
This was the first court ever held in Minnesota. The record of this term discloses that it .was opened on Monday August 13th, 1849. That there were present; Hon. Aaron Goodrich, judge of the 1st judicial district of Minnesota terri- tory, presiding; Alexander M. Mitchell, United States marshal; Henry L. Moss, United States district attorney; Morton S. Wilkinson, district attorney, St. Croix county; John Morgan, sheriff, St. Croix county; Harvey Wilson, clerk United States district court St. Croix county; William IIenry Forbes, interpreter.
On the first day of this term, the following named attorneys were admitted to practice; Mor-
ton S. Wilkinson, Henry L. Moss, David Lamb- ert, H. A. Lambert, George Goble, John A. Wakefield, Wiram Knowlton, Charles K. Smith, Alexander M. Mitchell, John S. Goodrich, William D. Phillips, Edmund Rice, Ellis G. Whitall. and Samuel H. Dent. Of these gentlemen, the following were residents of St. Paul. The two Lamberts, Messrs. Wakefield, Smith, Mitchell, Phillips, Rice, Whitall, and Dent.
On the second day the court admitted Putnam P. Bishop and Lorenzo A. Babcock.
On the fourth day Alexander Wilkin and Bush- rod W. Lott were admitted.
Messrs. Bishop, Wilkin and Lott, were of St. Paul and Mr. Babcock, of Sauk Rapids.
On the fourth day an indictment was returned by the grand jury against William D. Phillips, the attorney of whom we have previously spoken, for an assault with intent to maim. The case was tried and a verdict rendered against Mr. Phillips for an assault, and he was fined twenty- five dollars.
This being the first indictment ever found and tried in Minnesota, and being against an attorney of the court, it possesses some historic interest. Mr. Phillips in an altercation with the prosecu- ting witness, drew a pistol on him, and the ques- tion in the case was whether the pistol was loaded or not. The witness swore that it was, and that he could see the load. The prisoner as the law then stood, could not testify in his own behalf, and there was no way for him to disprove this fact. He, however, always felt very much aggrieved at the verdict against him, and explained the assertion of the witness, that he saw the load, in this way. Mr. Phillips said he had been around electioneering for II. M. Rice, against Mr. Sibley, and from the unsettled state of the country he found it difficult to get his meals reg- ularly. So he carried crackers and cheese in his pockets, and the pistol being in the same pocket. a piece of the cracker got into the muzzle of the pistol, and the fellow was so scared that he thought the pistol was charged to the brim.
On the sixth day of the term, Samuel II. Quay and Laysel B. Wait were admitted to practice.
Mr. Quay was one of the publishers of the Minnesota Register, in St. Paul, and Mr. Wait was, at the time of his admission, a resident
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HISTORY OF RAMSEY COUNTY.
of Stillwater, but for many years after of St. Paul, and engaged in various mercantile pursuits. Neither of these gentlemen ever practiced law, that can be discovered.
At this term, our much respected citizen, Mr. Nathan Myrick, was indicted for selling liquor to Indians. This affair grew out of a seizure of Mr. Myrick's goods, as an Indian trader, by Capt. Monroe of the United States army, for an alleged breach of the trade and intercourse laws. Mr. Myrick was arrested by Capt. Monroe, and held a prisoner one night, and then released. The diffi- culty was amicably adjusted between Mr. Myrick and the Captain, and, so far as the former was concerned, would have been allowed to drop, but when the indictment was found Mr. M. at once, by Masterson & Simons, his attorneys, com- menced an action against Captain Monroe for false imprisonment, and recovered a judgment of $666.66; which the government subsequently paid, thus fully vindicating Mr. Myrick from any in- fraction of the laws. The indictment was never tried.
Mr. Harvey Wilson, who figures as the clerk of the first court ever held in Minnesota, continued to hold the office of clerk of the district court of Washington county continuously from the organ- ization of that county, in 1849, to the time of his death about two years ago.
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