USA > Minnesota > Stearns County > History of Stearns County, Minnesota, Volume I > Part 67
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houn was a great lawyer, a ripe scholar, a courteous gentleman, a patriotic citizen, a kind, tender and loving husband and father."
Judge Calhoun was succeeded by A. H. Klasen, who was elected in 1906 and served until January 4, 1915. Judge Klasen is a graduate of the Univer- sity of Minnesota and was for a time associated with Judge Bruener under the style of Bruener & Klasen. He is a native of Stearns county, having been born at Freeport. During his incumbency of the office he served as presi- dent of the Probate Judges' State Association. He has been attentive to the duties of this important office and has made an excellent record.
Joseph B. Himsl assumed the office of Probate judge January 4, 1915. He is a graduate of the Law School of the University of Minnesota, and in addition to his present office he has been assistant county superintendent of schools and county attorney, holding the latter position for two terms, from 1909 to 1913. Judge Himsl's experience and training have well qualified him for his present office and he will make an excellent Judge of Probate.
MUNICIPAL COURTS.
There is but one Municipal court in Stearns county, that at Sank Centre. This was established by special act of the legislature approved March 28, 1889, and it continued to operate under this special law until 1897 when the City council adopted the provisions of Chapter 229 of the General Laws of Minnesota for 1895. The court is still working under the provisions of this latter law.
The regular terms of the Court are held on Tuesday of each week. It is a court of record with jurisdiction for Stearns county in all criminal mat- ters which may properly come before a court of a justice of peace and in all civil matters in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $500. The business of this court has at all times been handled by competent and efficient men and the court is well regarded throughout the county. The minutes, dockets, and filings have been well kept at all times and furnish many inter- esting facts relative to the history of the citizens of Sauk Centre. During the thirty-six years of the existence of this court its business has been pre- sided over by only five judges. The first judge was Lyman R. Barto, who was appointed by Governor Merriam in March, 1890, and was elected judge in April, 1890. He served until 1894, when he took up the active practice of law and was succeeded by David Wilcox who presided over the Court until the date of his death in the latter part of 1906. W. A. Morse was appointed by Governor Johnson to complete the unexpired term of Judge Wilcox and served until June, 1909, when he resigned.
W. S. Dean was appointed by the governor to complete the unexpired term of Judge Morse and held office until April, 1913, when he removed from Sauk Centre and resigned his position.
The present judge, the Hon. Cary Diehl, was appointed by Governor Eber- hart, April, 1913, and was elected to the office in the following year. He is a man of wide experience and in addition to his office as municipal judge, he holds the office of court commissioner of Stearns county at the present time. He was born in 1854 in Ohio and received a post-graduate normal school edu-
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cation at Grinnell, Iowa. He taught school for a few years and then served in the operating and accounting departments of the Northwestern Railway Company for twenty-five years. In 1900 he moved to Ruthton, Minnesota, and from there to Sauk Centre.
EARLY CASES AND LAWYERS.
The first case filed in the District court of Stearns county was an appeal from the Justice court of J. F. Noel, and was entitled James F. Kennedy, Plaintiff, vs. R. A. Smith, Defendant. This was an action for "Work and labor bestowed at the defendant's request for him in the sum of forty-nine dollars and forty-five cents on or about the thirteenth day of November, A. D., 1858." The defense was a counterclaim for lime and other articles sold and delivered amounting to $57.00. Stephen Miller, afterward governor of the state, represented the plaintiff, and Henry C. Waite, the defendant. The case was evidently hard fought on both sides in the Justice court, as there are several written rulings of the Justice in the file, but apparently it was not tried at all in District court.
Under date March 15, 1859, is noted the first general term, which was held in "Wilson's Hall." Court came in and proceeded to business. The district attorney being absent, the Court appointed C. C. Andrews prosecut- ing attorney for this term." All jurors both grand and petit who were absent were fined $5.00 each. The first case called was S. J. Wheeler vs. Anton Edel- brock and by consent judgment was entered for plaintiff, this being the first judgment ever actually entered in the District court. This first general term lasted four days. There were apparently but four attorneys in attendance, viz., Henry C. Waite, J. C. Shepley, C. C. Andrews and William H. Wood. Two were admitted at this time.
The record says under date of March 15: "Moved by H. C. Waite, Esq., that Thomas C. McClure be admitted as an attorney to practice in the courts of this state, and moved by William H. Wood, Esq., that Stephen Miller be admitted to practice in the same. The court ordered that the following gentle- men be a committee to examine the above applicants, viz., H. C. Waite, William H. Wood and C. C. Andrews." "March 16, court in session. The committee appointed to examine applicants for admission to the bar reported favorably as to Stephen Miller and Thomas C. McClure, and they were duly admitted as attorneys and counsellors at law."
Neither Mr. McClure nor Mr. Miller ever practiced law for a livelihood Mr. McClure was deputy clerk of the district court when N. P. Clarke was clerk and was afterwards clerk himself. After leaving the clerk's office he and Mr. Clarke were in business, and for many years he was one of the promi- nent figures in Stearns' county history.
Mr. Miller came to St. Cloud in 1858 and was engaged in the Justice court cases which comprised the principal litigation of the time. His principal occu- pation was in the mercantile line and he remained in business in St. Cloud until 1861, when he left to enter the Union army. He was lieutenant colonel of the First Minnesota and was later made colonel of the Seventh regiment. Shortly after his promotion he suffered a severe fall from his horse. While
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recovering from this injury he was elected governor of Minnesota. Gov- ernor Miller was prominent in public affairs for a number of years and dicd at Worthington, where he had made his home in later years.
Of the other lawyers at this first term only three were Stearns county men. Mr. Wood was a Sauk Rapids man, and although he practiced in this county, he never lived here.
Mr. Shepley was Mr. Waite's partner, the firm being Waite & Shepley. He was a native of Maine, and a nephew of Chief Justice Shepley. He came to St. Cloud shortly after Mr. Waite and they were both prominent in the affairs of the new state and both were talented men. Mr. Shepley served, as did Mr. Waite, in the Democratic wing of the Constitutional Convention.
Following the custom in pioneer communities, one of the principal social events was the weekly lyceum or debating society. Both Mr. Shepley and Mr. Waite were active in this lyceum and at times the discussions waxed so warm that the entire community was likely to be torn asunder.
General C. C. Andrews, now state Forestry commissioner, came to St. Cloud in the summer of 1857.
He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1850 and to the bar of the United States Circuit court in Washington, D. C., in 1857. Prior to coming to St. Cloud he was for two years in the office of the solicitor of the United States Treasury department and came to Minnesota as a special attorney for the government in an action then pending in the United States District court for the district of Minnesota. General Andrews was not only the first acting county attorney as shown by the record above quoted, but he was the first city attorney, having been appointed by the council in 1857. He was attor- ney for the successful litigant in the first case called for trial in District court and also in the second case called, which was the first case to be tried by a jury. General Andrews entered the Union army as captain of Company I, Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, was promoted to be lieutenant colonel and afterwards colonel of the regiment. He was promoted to be a brigadier general and was brevetted major general. After the close of the war he was a candidate for congress in the famous Ignatius Donelley fight, but was de- feated. He was then appointed as United States Minister to Sweden, where he served nine years and thereafter served two years as United States Minister to Brazil. General Andrews is still living, being now a resident of St. Paul, and in recent years he has done a great work in protecting the forests of the state.
In the fall of 1857 George Barstow, who was an eloquent orator and who had been prominent in New Hampshire politics, came to St. Cloud. His wife was a sister of Mr. Shepley and he formed a partnership with his brother- in-law. Mr. Barstow remained in St. Cloud only about a year, and then moved to San Francisco, and later became speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives of California.
Following Mr. Barstow came James M. McKelvy in 1858; and William J. Parsons also in 1858. Mr. Parsons came here from Minneapolis, where he had practiced for some time. He was defendant and appellant in the first reported case which was appealed from Stearns county to the Supreme court.
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It is traditional among attorneys that however ardent they may become in their cause, they do not permit their ardor in a client's cause to stand in the way of pleasant personal relations and friendships. Sometimes, however, at- torneys as well as others have differences between themselves. As expressed by one of the men now practicing in St. Cloud, "Usually I get mad only for my client, but in this case I got mad for myself." It is interesting to note, therefore, that this first case to go to the Supreme court was a fight between lawyers. It appears that some time after Judge Hamlin retired from the bench, he loaned some money to his brother attorney, William J. Parsons. For security Mr. Parsons gave a mortgage on his house and lot, said lot being numbered six. Mrs. Parsons owned lot seven, adjoining lot six. For reasons best known to himself, Mr. Parsons moved the house from lot six to lot seven. This left lot six vacant, unoccupied and unimproved, and as such not of suffi- cient value to pay the mortgage. Thereupon Judge Hamlin evidently "got mad for himself," for he sued Mr. Parsons and his wife in an action to fore- close the mortgage on lot six and have it declared a lien on the house then standing on lot seven. The District court so ordered and the Parsons appealed to the Supreme court, which held the house to be still subject to the mortgage and that it could be sold to satisfy the debt.
This first appeal from Stearns county was not until 1866, eight years after the District court was established. It is reported in 12 Minnesota, Page 108, "Edward O. Hamlin vs. William J. Parsons and wife."
Since that time many cases of first impression have been decided on ap- peals from this county, some of them involving very important and far-reach- ing principles of law.
The only admissions to the bar noted upon the records prior to the war, in addition to those already mentioned, were William A. Caruthers and Milton S. Slocum, both of whom were admitted on order, September 19, 1859.
Mr. Slocum never practiced here.
Mr. Caruthers was register of the United States land office, first at Sauk Rapids and then at St. Cloud, but left at the beginning of the war to join the Confederate army. Mr. Caruthers was a very ready speaker and it is told of him that once he became so eloquent in the defense of his client in a crim- inal case that the defendant took advantage of the spellbound attention of the Court, the auditors, and the sheriff, and made his "getaway." After the close of the war Mr. Caruthers practiced in the South where he died a number of years ago.
The last of what may be termed the first generation of lawyers in Stearns county was William S. Moore. He was a Yale graduate, and noted for his subtlety and technical knowledge. Woe to the lawyer who appeared against Mr. Moore with imperfect pleadings. An amendment with $10.00 costs was the rule. Mr. Moore succeeded James M. McKelvy as county attorney being appointed in August, 1862, and serving until January, 1863. S. B. Pinney having been elected in November, 1862.
Mr. Pinney was county attorney for one term, and was followed in the office by Mr. Moore, who was elected in 1864.
The first clerk of the District court evidently thought the county an ex-
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ceedingly law-abiding one, for he began marking his criminal files by letters instead of numbers. Case "A," the first criminal case in the files, is one in which Thomas Blaney was arrested on the complaint of Amos Dodge for "feloniously shooting said Amos Dodge with both barrels of a double barrel shot gun." The primitive manner of living is indicated by the testimony which is written in long hand.
Amos Dodge testified : "Yesterday about noon we stopped upon the hill to cook some dinner, and I throwed my blanket on the ground and lay down a few minutes when he, Blaney, commenced to abuse me in language." The story goes on to relate how he got up, put the gun in the wagon and started off with his ox team but was followed by Blaney, who started to take the gun out of the wagon. Dodge in trying to prevent this got shot in the arm.
The defendant conducted his own cross-examination which was as fol- lows :
"George (meaning Mr. Dodge) were you sober when you laid down there ?"'
"I was sober."
"Had you drinked a quart of liquor that day?"
"No, nor a gill."
"Did you drink out of the jug?"
"No, out of a small bottle."
"How many times was that bottle filled ?"
"I don't know."
"Did you see me pay for a gallon of whiskey?"
"I did."
"That's all."
The other witnesses were Sam Arseneau and "a girl of seven years and a half."
The defendant was found guilty and committed to jail.
Criminal case No. 1 was an appeal from Justice court, wherein the de- fendant, Phillip Spinaweaver, had been convicted by Joseph F. Noel, justice of the peace, "for having on the 27th day of November, 1858, in St. Cloud Town, in said County, did willfully and metitiously and unlawfully steal one buck deer from M. P. Noel, supposed to be about eight months old and the value of about $10.00." The evidence was purely circumstantial and consisted, so far as connecting defendant with the crime, in comparing tracks in the snow with defendant's boots. The jury in the District court found defendant "not guilt."
SECOND, THIRD AND FOURTH GENERATIONS.
After September, 1859, no attorneys were admitted to practice law in Stearns county for a period of nearly five years, the next name appearing on the roll being that of R. Channing Moore, admitted in 1864.
Oscar Taylor was also admitted in 1864 and remained in continuously act- ive practice longer than any other man at this bar. Mr. Taylor first came to this section of the state in charge of a United States Government surveying party in 1857 or 1858. He was in the Union army during the war and was made
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captain. After the war he settled in St. Cloud for the practice of law and remained in practice here till about 1900, when failing health demanded his retirement. Captain Taylor was county attorney, succeeding Mr. Moore in 1866, and was again county attorney from 1886 to 1891, having succeeded in keeping J. D. Sullivan out of the office for one term. He had a notoriously caustic tongue, and his associates did not always approve his methods, but he was a brilliant man and probably the most gifted man in the history of this bar, as an orator.
Following Oscar Taylor the record shows seventy odd admissions down to 1891. Many of these men never practiced their profession, or if so, for only a short time, but a list of the men with the dates of their admission to the bar is of more than passing interest.
E. M. Wright, April 14, 1864; Charles D. Kerr, October 4, 1865; Clinton B. Robinson, October 4, 1865; L. A. Evans, October 27, 1866; George L. Hays, August 29, 1868; A. Barto, June 22, 1870; Charles Walker, June 22, 1870; Joseph Mitchell, July, 1870; John Brophy, February, 1871; Dolson B. Searle, June 17, 1871; Peter Brick, June 26, 1871; J. V. Brower, June 26, 1873; John M. McNair, December 8, 1873; Charles F. Sawyer, December 8, 1873; Alvin M. Crowell, June 12, 1874; Frank E. Searle, June 25, 1876; Lorentz Weir, June 24, 1876; C. A. Gilman, L. T. Storey and A. F. Storey, December 16, 1876; James R. Bennett, Jr., February 3, 1877 ; R. P. Briggs, June, 1879; David T. Calhoun, December 11, 1877; Frank E. Hamlin, June 22, 1878; William L. Wilder, June 22, 1878; D. D. Webster, June 22, 1878; Oliver K. Chance, June 22, 1874; Theodore S. Stiles, December 7, 1878; Charles S. Mitchell, December 6, 1881; Frank Tolman, December 6, 1881; Henry Dressler, June 24, 1882; W. A. Gates, June 24, 1882; John C. Foster, June 17, 1882; Theodore Bruener, December 8, 1879; E. H. Morse, and L. R. Swift, June 24, 1882; D. C. Van Camp, June 24, 1882; L. M. Davis and M. C. Kelsey, December 20, 1882; D. W. Bruckart, June 16, 1883; William Westerman, June 16, 1883; John M. Galtz, June 19, 1883; O. W. Baldwin, June 20, 1883; Charles L. Hinck- ley, June, 1883; Harry S. Locke, June 22, 1883; C. A. Lindbergh, June 22, 1883; Fred E. Redick, September 29, 1883; H. M. Dye, December 17, 1883; Simon J. Barnes, February 1, 1884; George W. Stewart, December 9, 1884; George S. Spencer, June 19, 1884; P. B. Gorman, December 9, 1884; L. R. Barto, December 9, 1884; E. W. Taylor, December 23, 1885; George M. Bennett, January 30, 1886; E. G. Mills, March 24, 1886; J. D. Sullivan, July 7, 1886; Charles W. Hoyt, December 1, 1886; T. H. Van Dyke, December 14, 1886; David Burrows, July 19, 1887; Edward R. Lynch, July 19, 1887; John W. Shepard, July 19, 1887; L. S. Thomas, December 23, 1887; Charles H. Foot, July 3, 1888; William H. Thompson, July 3, 1888; Nathan B. Wharton, De- cember 10, 1888; Benjamin F. Wright, January 4, 1889; John E. C. Robinson, March 3, 1891.
It would appear from the records that Mr. Robinson was the last of those admitted under the old system of examination by a committee appointed by the Court. The other lawyers of the county have been admitted either upon diploma or after examination by the State Board of Law Examiners. A few were admitted in other counties or states and later came to practice in Stearns
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county. Prominent among these were N. H. Miner, for many years the leading lawyer of Sauk Centre, and George H. Reynolds, who came here from Douglas county.
The present bar of Stearns county comprises practitioners of what might be termed three generations or periods.
Eight of those named in the foregoing list are still in practice in Stearns county : Peter Brick, James R. Bennett, Theodore Bruener, P. B. Gorman and J. D. Sullivan of St. Cloud; D. C. Van Camp and M. C. Kelsey of Sauk Centre, and F. Tolman of Paynesville. Of the same generation are M. D. Taylor, R. B. Brower and Hubert Hansen, all of whom were admitted to practice upon the diploma of the State University; Judge Taylor in 1879, Judge Hansen in 1882 and Mr. Brower in 1890.
The next generation comprises Jolin A. Roeser, James E. Jenks, J. B. Himsl, John B. Pattison, and James H. Maybury, of St. Cloud; W. F. Donohue and W. J. Stephens, of Melrose. Of these Judge Roeser and Mr. Jenks were admitted by the State Board of Examiners in 1898; Messrs. Klasen, Himsl, Pat- tison, Donohue and Stephens all graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School; Messrs. Donohue and Stephens both in 1896; Mr. Pattison in 1900, and Judges Klasen and Himsl, both in 1903.
Mr. Maybury graduated from Wisconsin and practiced for several years at Crookston, whence he moved to the Pacific Coast on account of his health, but returned to his native town of St. Cloud about two years ago for the prac- tice of his profession here.
Mr. Donohue is the senior member of the firm of Donohue & Stephens of Melrose and served four years as county attorney and also as a member of the legislature during the session of 1899. He is now city attorney of Melrose.
The third and last generation of present day practitioners are the fol- lowing : Paul Ahles, the present county attorney, Henry H. Sullivan, son of J. D. Sullivan; Warren H. Stewart, son of George W. Stewart; L. L. Kells of Sauk Centre, son of Lucas Kells, and James J. Quigley. Of these Mr. Kells and Mr. Quigley are graduates of the University of Minnesota, in 1908 and 1910, respectively; Mr. Sullivan attended the University for a time but fin- ished his studies in his father's office and was admitted through the Board of Law Examiners, as was Mr. Stewart, who is a Michigan graduate. Mr. Ahles was a teacher for some years after graduating and then became county superintendent of schools, which office he held for eight years. He was ad- mitted on examination of the State Board of Examiners.
Mr. Kells is the present city attorney of Sauk Centre and is taking an active part in the development of his section of the county.
Mr. Quigley was born at Minneapolis. After graduating from the law school he went with the legal department of the Great Northern Railway Company and was in the Great Northern employ when he came to St. Cloud in 1913.
It used to be said that the only requisite for admission to the bar in the old days of committee examination, was the wherewithal to buy a dinner with a few trimmings, for the members of the bar. That this is a base libel, how- ever, is amply proved by the high class of men who were so admitted. Some
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of them have been recognized as among the strongest lawyers not only in the county but in the state.
It is impossible to give individual sketches of all of the men who have been admitted in the county. Some never practiced and some moved else- where ; but a goodly number remained in the profession and for the most part, to its honor.
E. M. Wright was county attorney from 1868 to 1870, practiced in St. Cloud for a considerable time and then moved to Fergus Falls.
Charles D. Kerr was in practice in St. Cloud for some time and then re- moved to St. Paul, where he was made judge of the Ramsey County District court by the unanimous endorsement of the bar of that county, and served in that capacity for many years.
George L. Hayes was a brother-in-law of Judge Kerr. He came from the south and formed a partnership with Judge Kerr, but he only remained in St. Cloud about a year.
J. V. Brower was the father of R. B. Brower, now in practice in St. Cloud, and has been in many ways a remarkable man. His work, however, has not been along the line of the law and is more fully treated elsewhere in this history.
Frank E. Searle is a brother of Judge Searle. He practiced both at Sauk Centre and St. Cloud and is now in New York City.
C. A. Gilman has helped make history from the beginning of things in this county. He had for a time as a partner a man named Barrett, who was a brilliant man but not altogether dependable and who returned to New York after a short period of practice. Mr. Gilman has occupied many public offices and is now at eighty-two years of age in the legislature, as active and energetic as many of the men who are much younger in years.
L. T. Storey and A. F. Storey both practiced in Sauk Centre.
James R. Bennett, Jr., has the distinction of being the only man ever admitted to the bar in this state by a special act of the legislature. He had completed his studies and passed his examinations before he was twenty-one years of age. On the recommendation of Judge McKelvy, who was then on the bench, the legislature passed a special act for his admission. Mr. Bennett is still practicing in St. Cloud, being the surviving member of the firm of Calhoun & Bennett. He served for some years as city attorney, and has been a prominent leader in politics.
Charles S. Mitchell never practiced law, but he has been prominent in the affairs of the state and is now editor of the Duluth News-Tribune.
Frank Tolman studied law in the office of D. B. Searle and after admis- sion to the bar was associated with D. B. Searle and his brother under the style of Searle, Searle & Tolman. He was also a member of the firm of Tol- man & Baldwin, the other member being O. W. Baldwin, now of Minneapolis.
Mr. Tolman removed to Paynesville, in this county, some years ago, where he now enjoys a very good practice covering the towns in Western Stearns and along the Soo and Great Northern lines into the adjoining counties.
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