USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > Centennial history of Cincinnati and representative citizens, Vol. I, Pt. 1 > Part 64
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89
The first criminal jury included John Scott, Isaac Bates, Jonathan Fitts, James Dement, Jolın Van Cleff, Scott Traverse, Ziba Stebbins, Ilenry Mclaughlin, Aza Peck, Thaddeus Bruen, Daniel Seward and Cornelius Miller. They found Catherine Fortie guilty of stealing an iron kettle. She was ordered to receive 25 lashes on her bare back but as her husband had been a soldier and she had served as a nurse dur- ing the entire Continental War and for other
reasons the punishment was modified to 10 lashes. On the back of the writ was the re- turn : "Agreeably to the order of court the with- in mentioned Catherine Fortie was taken and ticd to a public whipping post, her back bared and ten stripes well administered with a stout hickory gad."
At this term of court Thomas Goudy was ad- mitted to practice, the first admitted in the county.
Ensign William Henry Harrison took it upon himself to chastise one Daniel Rian, a recently discharged soldier. Rian had a warrant sworn out for Harrison but the sheriff was not permit- ted by the commandant, Gen. James Wilkinson, to serve the same; thereupon Judge Goforth instructed the officers of the court to arrest Har- rison whenever they found him outside of the fort. This a young deputy sheriff attempted to do and Harrison knocked him down with a walk- ing stick. He subsequently delivered himself up to the court and received a lecture and was sentenced to 24 hours' confinement at Mc- Henry's tavern, where it is said that he and his friends passed a very agreeable day.
Another interesting case of the early days was a suit of John Ludlow against William Woodward and Archibald Johnson for a debt of three dollars and a half which they refused to pay. Under Judge Goforth's order the founder of Old Woodward and his associates were arrested and placed in jail until the trial.
On July 30, 1792, the well known citizen, Samuel Dick, was sued by James McKean for being assaulted "with staves, swords, guns. pistols, fists and greatly endangering his life," to quote the phraseology of the old indictment. The real fact was that Dick slapped Mckean. The matter was left to three arbitrators who decided that Dick not being the first aggressor and being a smaller man be fined four barrels of flour and ordered to refrain from fighting the plaintiff for the space of two weeks, certainly not a very serious deprivation.
At this time Jolin Blanchard and Francis Tay- lor appeared as prominent lawyers.
Dr. William Goforth claimed to have cured one Samuel Blackburn, an carly settler, of the itch, for which he asked £18. Blackburn was placed in jail to await trial which resulted in a verdict of four dollars for the Doctor. A new trial was granted and the Doctor at this time took depositions in Limestone and Lexington as to the value of his services. At the trial Blackburn appeared without any legal advice,
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
37 1
but when asked to plead offered his hands in evi- dence and even suggested that the judge and jury might examine them. They seem to have been a sufficient defense for the jury brought in a verdict of sixteen dollars and costs for the de- fendant to reimburse him for the expense of · taking the depositions.
In another case David Voorhees endeavored to replevin a dark brown Indian pony from Col. Oliver M. Spencer. Several Indians were called as witnesses but Blue Jacket and Crooked Horn disagreed as to the identity of the pony. The jury did the same and the matter was settled by drawing straws, as a result of which Colonel Spencer kept the horse.
Benjamin Flinn sued William Shaw for .as- sault and battery. The trial of the case was postponed and in the meantime Flinn gave Shaw a terrific beating. Upon the trial Shaw withdrew his action on the ground that the mat- ter had been satisfactorily compromised.
Jacob Fowler sued General Wilkinson for pay as a scout which the General refused to give on the ground that Fowler's only occupation had been loafing around the Indian camps with his Indian wife, both continually drunk. The jury found a verdict for Fowler and the judge or- dered the General to jail until the money was paid.
.
John Pennington Smith presented a recom- mendation from Jolin Cleves Symmes and others certifying as to his fitness to practice law. The Secretary of the Territory, Winthrop Sargent, protested against his admission to the bar on the ground that he was a man of loose morals. Judge Goforth appointed John S. Gano, Benjamin Stites and William McMillan to investigate and they reported that Smith was no worse than other lawyers and he was admitted.
On - August 6, 1793, the Governor commis- sioned William Goforth, William Wells, William McMillan, John S. Gano and Aaron Caldwell, judges of the Hamilton County Court of Com- mon Pleas.
John Torrence sued William Curry for tres- pass and Curry was sent to jail to await trial. Torrence subsequently discovered that there was no trespass but that the surveyor had made a mistake and endeavored to have Curry released. As there was no court in session, this he could not do. When the court convened Curry was released and Goforth sent Torrence to jail for the length of time Curry had remained there.
Capt. George Gordon, who kept the city inn, insisted on being paid for drinks and for their
refusal to comply with this reasonable demand Dr. Calvin'Morrell, James Smith, Thomas True- man, John Evans, Rice Bullock and Evan Free- man occupied the jail for a short time.
James Ferguson sued John LeCount for a ' debt of one dollar and a half for beer and cakes. On the trial LeCount spoke disrespectfully to the court and consequently received 25 lashes at the public whipping post.
Mary Thomas, wife of Casper Thomas, was prosecuted as a common scold and on May 2, 1796, having been convicted on testimony of her husband, she received 21 stripes on her bare back and was sent to jail for 30 days.
A discharged soldier, Peter Kerrigan, mar- ried Mary Murphy without publishing the banns ; thereupon William Maxwell, the owner of the Spy, who felt that he was entitled to the ad- vertisement, caused him to be arrested and Peter received 10 stripes on the bare back and stood four hours in the public pillory and went to jail for three months.
In those days the protective tariff was thor- oughly enforced and no foreign competition was permitted. James Ferguson, a well known mer- chant, sold an English-made penknife for which he was obliged to pay a fine of $too. Harvey James ferried a neighbor across the river for a pound of tobacco. As this competed with the regular ferryman, James was arrested for fer- rying without license. His tobacco cost him 10 stripes on the back and $20.
The collector called upon Ebenezer Ayres for taxes, whereupon Ayres kicked him out of his shop. This little exploit cost him $too and a week in jail.
Another well known merchant, Capt. Hugh Moore, of the "Brick House," sold an old flint- lock French musket, forgetting its foreign ori- gin. Fined $100. Another veteran, Capt. John Mercer, started a billiard saloon without com- plying with the law and paid several fines of $25 cach before he concluded to give up the busi- ness.
Rev. Joab Monters conchided that he was a Savior and so announced himself on the street corners. After being incarcerated in jail, he delivered his addresses from the window cachi morning at ten o'clock and on the trial offered to prove his divine character by performing mira- cles. This undoubtedly insane man received 50 lashes. He subsequently traveled throughout the country in the same character and was finally killed, while endeavoring to carry his religious doctrines to the savages.
23
372
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
Wakepah, a big Indian chief from the terri- · tory beyond the Big Miami, brought his squaws to town and celebrated with fire water. He started to paint the town red and with his tomahawk and scalping knife in hand announced his de- termination to cat up anybody who came his way. He sobered up in prison and the promise to reform was impressed upon his mind by 50 lashes and the carrying of ball and chain about his ankles for 30 days.
Abraham Mezmer was so fond of matrimony that he married two women. He got 75 lashes and was confined for 90 days and fed on bread and water only. At the end of his imprisonment some of his second wife's early admirers fur- nished him with a coat of tar and feathers and rode him out of town on a rail. Both wives married again and their children became promi- nent citizens.
Among the early trials was that of John Brewster, an ex-soldier of King George IV, who was arrested for using insulting language to the government of the United States. He had been a soldier of England in the effort to subdue the Colonies, but had been taken prisoner and decided to remain in this country. In the course of a hot political discussion he remarked that he desired to see the Colonies, as he called the United States, once more under the dominion of England. He was arrested as a spy and thrown into prison. He was defended by Jacob Burnet, who had come West but a year before (1796), and who based his client's defense on a somewhat daring appeal to the jury. He asked them if they would not be glad to see England under our subjection and as they naturally re- sponded from the box that they would, he asked that people of other countries should have the same liberty. Brewster was acquitted by the jury.
' Another trial was that of Mary Kelly, charged with whipping one Katherine Farrell, the newly wedded wife of Michael Farrell. Michael, it seems, had made love to Mary, but on the day fixed for his marriage he had wedded another girl, Kitty McGuire, the most intimate friend of his promised bride. Mary met Kitty at a party but a few days later and thrashed her soundly. She was convicted and punished by receiving 33 lashes on her bare back and was. carried from the whipping post in almost a dy- ing condition. She recovered, however, and soothed her grief by marrying one Daniel Cline.
Another trial was that of Capt. George Gor- don, the tavern keeper, who insisted upon ap-
propriating for his own use a street which had not been used for some time. Here he planted potatoes, and when a man named Simpson in- sisted upon driving through the potato patch both on going to town and returning Gordon assaulted him. Simpson caused his arrest and he was convicted and fined and sentenced to im- prisonment, but as he was the deputy postmaster and the regular postmaster was said to be in jail for debt the imprisonment part of the sentence was remitted so that he could attend to the duties of his office.
The General Court of the Territory also sat from time to time in Cincinnati and its first "docquet" is of interest. It is as follows :
"DOCQUET."
"of the first general court, of the territory of the United States north-west of the river Ohio, held within and for the county of Hamilton, which commenced at Cincinnati on October the fourth, in the year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, and of the inde- pendence of the United States of America the fifteenth.
"October 4, 1790, eleven o'clock, A. M., Mon- day.
"The Honorable Judge Turner, escorted by the sheriff and attended by. the clerk and other judicial officers of the said county, present. Court opened agreeable to proclamation at the instance of the honorable the judge, above men- tioned, whose commission being openly read, and the necessary proclamations duly made for the judicial and ministerial officers of the county to make their return, the sheriff presented his list of grand-jurors summoned :
"Of Cincinnati-1, Jacob Reeder ; 2, James Wallace ; 3, James Cunningham ; 4, Francis Ken- nedy ; 5, John Cummings; 6, John Vance ; 7, John Terry; 8, Seth Cutter; 9, Richard Ben- hamn; io, James Burns; 11, Luther Kitchell; 12, Henry Taylor; 13, Nathan Dunnals; 14, Joseph Cutter; 15, David Logan; 16, Abijah Ward. Of Columbia-17, Benjamin Davis ; 18, Elijah Mills; 19, Samuel Newell; 20, William Gerrard; 21, Elijah Stites; 22, James Matthews; 23, John Manning; 24, Nathaniel Stokes.
"Returned to serve, the first sixteen, viz .: 1. Jacob Reeder ; 2, James Wallace: 3. James C'un- ningham ; 4, Francis Kennedy; 5, John Cim- mings ; 6, John Vance; 7, John Terry; 8, Seth Cutter; 9, Richard Benham; 10, James Burns; 11, Luther Kitchell; 12, Henry Taylor ;
373
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
13, Nathan Dunnals; 14, Joseph Cutter; 15, David Logan ; 16, Abijah Ward.
"One judge only attending, court, without proceeding to business, was adjourned until eleven o'clock of to-morrow, A. M.
"Tuesday, fifth October, 1790.
"Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Absentees (grand-jurors), Francis Kennedy, John Cum- mings, Luther Kitchell, David Logan.
"Proclamations duly made, court was ad- journed till twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow. "Wednesday, sixth October, 1790.
"Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Absentees of yesterday obtained a remission of their respective fines. Necessary proclamations being made, court was adjourned, ut supra, until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow.
"Thursday, seventh October, 1790.
"Court opened agreeable to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Absentees (grand-jurors), Seth Cutter, Richard Benham, Luther Kitchell, Joseph Cutter.
"Court adjourned until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow.
"Friday, eighth October, 1790.
"Court opened pursuant to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Joseph Mc- Henry attended to serve on the grand jury. The same jurors absent to-day that were yesterday.
"Court adjourned until twelve o'clock, at noon, to-morrow.
"Saturday, twelve o'clock, ninth October, 1790.
"Court opened agreeable to adjournment. Present, Honorable Judge Turner. Grand jurors absent-John Terry, Nathan Dunnals, likewise the absentees of Thursday.
"Court adjourned until five o'clock of this day, afternoon.
"Eodem Die, five o'clock, afternoon. i
"None of the judges present, the sheriff pro- ceeded to adjourn the court without delay.
"No business entered upon at this term by rea- son of there not being present, of the honorable, the judges, a number sufficient to constitute a quorum.
(Signed) "W. McMILLAN,"
"In' behalf of John S. Gano, deputy to Israel Ludlow, clerk."
Another. interesting original record reads as follows :
"1792 SUPREME COURT OF THE TERRITORY."
"John C. Symmes, judge. Present, six jus- tices-William Goforth, William Wells, William McMillan, John S. Gano, George Cullum and Aaron Cadwell; Joseph LeSure, clerk pro tem; Robert Bunten, coroner; John Ludlow, sheriff ; Isaac Martin, sub-sheriff ; Benjamin Orcutt, crier ; Robert Wheelan, Samuel Martin, Syl- vanus Runnels, constables. The grand jury was called over, David Davis, foreman. The jury retired. Witnesses were called for the United States court business, assaults and habeas corpus. Job, a negro man, vs. John Tanner; also United States vs. James Mays, for the murder of Mat- thew Sullivan ; Same vs. Joseph Paxton as acces- sory with Mays; Same vs. George Turner, on certiorari ; Same vs. Matthew Winton and Mat- thew Derough, charged with riot. The sheriff called forty-eight names, from which these twelve were chosen to try Mays: Robert Ben- liam, Robert Mitchell, Samuel Dick, Benjamin Jennings, Matthew Winton, Henry Pickle, James Dement, Charles Bruce, William Kelly, Samuel Rolston, James Miller, Steward Wil- kins.
"In this case Mr. Dunn was prosecutor, and Messrs. Goudy and Smith were counsel for Mays. The jury out an hour, and came in with a verdict of 'guilty.' The court received the verdict in the house of Isaac Martin."
The crime for which Mays paid the penalty occurred shortly after the military riot in 1792. Mays had been drinking and carousing with an old friend named Sullivan. The bout ended in a quarrel about some trifle and the men came to blows. Sullivan, who was a smaller man than Mays, was getting the. better of the affray and friends stepped in and separated them. Mays seemed much incensed at the idea that he had been whipped by a man smaller than himself and threatened in public to kill Sullivan when- ever he met him. Shortly afterwards both were present at a party given by Hardin Smithi at his log cabin near the corner of Sixth and Main streets. Sullivan offered his hand to Mays with the request that he should overlook the trouble and that their friendly relations should be re- sumed. Mays responded that he had sworn to kill him and that this was as good a time as any : thereupon he drew a hunting knife which, of course, every settler in those days carried in his belt, and stabbed Sullivan to the heart, bring- ing about his immediate death. Mays was ar- rested and put on trial for his life and finally
נ
374
CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF CINCINNATI
.
convicted. i was in charge of Sheriff 'John Ludlow. It took place on the gallows erected on the south side of Fifth strect a little east of Walnut. The execution was public, as all such affairs were at that time, and the people gathered from every direction to see it. Excursions were brought into the city and many came as far as fifty miles to be present. Costs were allowed to Ludlow by the commis- sioners for "gallows, coffin and grave digging, fifteen pounds, eight shillings, and nine pence." This bill was not paid for six years after its ren- dition.
Another conviction for murder was that of a man named Bradley, for the killing of a man at North Bend. He had already been taken to the gallows (this time at Fifth and Broadway), when he was reprieved.
Jonathan Lyon describes in his reminiscences how, in 1795, he saw four men march out from Fort Washington to be executed; three of them were reprieved, however, while the fourth was hung. Afterwards he saw two more shot on Fifth street near Walnut, where Cavagna's grocery (now Peebles') formerly stood. Six soldiers fired and one of the men fell dead and another squad of six marched up and killed the other.
EARLY LAWYERS.
The lawyers of course formed an important element in the community from the outset. The officers of the Territory were in the main composed of lawyers and the government during the territorial times 'was practically in charge of the courts.
Judge Burnet in his "Notes" gives us a most interesting account of the practice in the early days. At the time of his arrival there were four counties in the Territory-Washington, Hamilton, St. Clair and Knox, with county seats at Mari- etta, Cincinnati, Kaskaskia and Vincennes, then called Au Post. In cach county there were courts of Common Pleas and General Quarter Sessions of the Peace. The General Court, con- sisting of three judges appointed by tlie Presi- dent, was the highest judicial tribunal in the Territory, and its proceedings were not subject to review. It met at Cincinnati in March, Mari- etta in October and at Detroit and the Western counties at various times designated by the judges. These seats of justice were separated from each other by extensive tracts of unin- habited wilderness stretching. from one liun- dred and fifty to two hundred miles without
roads, bridges or ferries. Despite this fact, until the formation of the State government, the vari- ous'members of the bar of Hamilton County were called upon to practice before tribunals at all these points and for many years Judge Burnet, Arthur St. Clair, Jr., and Daniel Symmes never missed a term in either Marietta or Detroit. They rode the circuit in companies of five or six and with packhorses to carry their necessary sup- plies ; although they frequently passed through Indian camps and villages where corn could at times be purchased, they could not rely upon these accommodations. The trips from one county seat to another frequently took from six to eight and sometimes ten days. As they were compelled to swim rivers which were too deep to be forded, an important element in the value of a horse was his ability as a swimmer.' In illustration of this, Burnet gives an anecdote of his return from a court at Marietta in the fall of 1801. The rains had been heavy and the streams were unusually high. As he approached White Oak he hesitated, but finally rolling his saddle bags in his cloak and tying this behind him he entered the water and waded to the mar- gin of the creek. Here he calculated the veloc- ity of the current by the driftwood and put his horse's head up stream, aiming to strike a path- way which had been cut through the bluff on the opposite bank. The horse, however, chose to steer for himself, and seeing the landing place at the opposite side made directly for it. As he was a fine swimmer, he struck it at the lower point so as to enable his rider to seize a bush and extricate both himself and the horse from danger. He swam another stream two miles beyond and a few miles still further the east fork of the Miami, at Williamsburg, and on the following day 'at Batavia and after- wards the Little Miami itself. At another time a party of a half dozen accompanying Judge Symmes to Marietta crossed the Hocking River near where Athens now stands. Here they found a cabin and were told that six or eight miles below there was a path leading from the river direct to Marietta which was a better way than the usual one by the mouth of the river. They reached the path late in the afternoon but as the clouds threatened rain they determined to proceed on their journey. The gathering clarkness made it impossible to keep the patlı and finally a halt was made. They concluded to proceed and one at a time dismounted and took the way on foot relying on the sense of feeling to keep the path. Shortly after midnight
375
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
Burnet, who was leading his horse in front and feeling for the path, stepped down a preci- pice about three feet. His horse being fright- ened drew back and prevented him from fall- ing. Further investigation showed that a little to the rear the path turned to the left at nearly a right angle and went down the side of the hill some fifty feet or more to a creek which proved to be Wolf's creek. They finally reached Mari- etta in safety. On the return Burnet investi- gated the path and saw that within three feet of the point where he had stepped off there was a perpendicular precipice to the bed of the creek from the top of which he could see the tops of the trees waving in the air below him.
The description of the visit by Burnet and his companions to the village of Blue Jacket has al- ready been given. On another occasion, while returning from Detroit they visited this same village and found the whole community, malc and female, drunk from drinking a large quan- tity of whiskey which Blue Jacket had brought from Cincinnati. An old withered squaw, who was very drunk, made herself particularly at- tentive to St. Clair, whom she knew was a high official of the Territory. She kissed him, ex- claiming, "you big man-Governor's son," and then turned to the rest of the party, saying with marked contempt, "you be milish." She then kissed Mr. St. Clair again. Burnet commented on this: "It was certainly one of those rare occa- sions on which men of sensibility and delicacy fcel the advantage of being placed at a low grade, on the scale of dignity."
On another trip to Vincennes, Burnet and young St. Clair descended the river in a Ken- tucky boat or ark, which they left at the falls of the Ohio. They resumed their journey on horseback and spent the night with a camp of Indians. The following night they were sur- rounded by panthers. On the next day they came suddenly upon eight or ten buffaloes who were sheltering themselves from a heavy snow storm behind a fallen becch tree. Their camp that night was an old cabin on White River, which was occupied by a large wild cat, who re- quired considerable persuasion to vacate the premises. This was in December and during a season of heavy snow storms. Their usual meal was a frozen chicken with a biscuit and some peach brandy which they carried with them. It was necessary to kindle a fire to thaw out the chicken. At night they scraped away the snow and with their saddle-bags for pillows and coats for blankets they slept. on the ground. It was
at the conclusion of this trip that Burnet and St. Clair abandoned the idea of engaging in . the practice of the law in that county, thinking the profits inadequate to the fatigue and loss of time.
The trips, to other sections were not alto- gether without pleasures, for the Judge states that "during a large portion of the year, they had to endure the fatigues and privations of the wilderness; and as often as they returned from those laborious excursions to their families and comfortable homes, they indulged most freely in the delicacies and luxuries of high living. Scarcely a day passed without a dinner party, given by some one of them, at which the best of wine and of other liquors, and the richest viands furnished by the country, and by com- merce, were served up in great profusion, and in fine taste. Genteel strangers who visited the place were generally invited to their houses, and their sumptuous tables ; and although at this day, such a practice would be considered a breach of moral duty, as well as of good breed- ing, they competed with cach other for the honor of drinking the most, as well as the best wine, without being intoxicated themselves, and of having at their parties the greatest number of intoxicated guests. This revel was kept up in a greater or less degree, during the season they remained at home, as an offset to the privations and suffering of their excursions into the wilder- ness.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.