History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 82

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302

USA > Ohio > Crawford County > History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 82

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The first court was held in the lower front room of Lewis Cary's residence, and upstairs the jury was sent; if Sarah Cary's school was in session at the time education was suspended to let justice hold sway. Among the lawyers who followed Judge Lane on his rounds were Andrew Coffinberry of Mansfield, known as "Count" Coffinberry on account of his dignity and faultless apparel. Then there was John Spink, the wit of the northwestern Ohio bar and a favorite with everybody; James Purdy and John M. May of Mansfield; Charles L. Boalt of Norwalk; Orris Parish of Delaware, and a few years later Charles Switzer of the same place, as fastidious in dress as "Count" Coffinberry, and there being then a semblance of roads he used to arrive in state with a car- riage drawn by two white horses. From Marion came Ozias Bowen and James S. God- man.

When the first court was held David H. Beardsley came over from Marion to act as temporary clerk on the organization of the court. Zalmon Rowse was selected as clerk and on the first meeting of the Supreme Court at Bucyrus his qualifications were certified to and he became the first clerk of the court of the county. At that time the attorneys in the place were John H. Morrison, who was county treasurer ; Isaac H. Allen, appointed the first prosecuting attorney, Michael Flick and Charles Stanberg.

No records are in existence of these early courts, as they were probably destroyed in the fire of 1831.

The first record found in this county is of the July term of 1832, when the supreme judges coming to Bucyrus were Joshua Collett and Ebenezer Lane, the latter having been elected a supreme judge by the Legislature in 1830. They heard eight cases. The first court house had been completed, as the record states the court met in the court house. July was the month for meeting in Bucyrus and in 1833 the judges attending were Joshua Collett and Reuben Wood, who heard nine cases. In 1834

Joshua Collett and Ebenezer Lane were the judges hearing eight cases; 1835, Joshua Col- lett and Ebenezer Lane; 1836, Ebenezer Lane and Reuben Wood; 1837, the same judges; 1838, Peter Hitchcock and Frederick Grimkie. Zalmon Rowse was Supreme Court clerk, with his bond fixed at $10,000.

The justices of the peace were an important court in those days. The custom appears to have prevailed for the citizens to pick out some man or men in each township, whose common sense, honor and integrity were un- questioned. This man was selected justice of the peace and was kept in office, and when he was an exceptionally good man the only way he could escape the position was by running for some county office or dying, the latter being the only safe course, as John Campbell was elected justice in Whetstone, and tried to es- cape the job by being elected to the Legislature, but his neighbors wouldn't have it, and for a while he held both offices. No one appeared to mind his double salary, for the reason his legis- lative pay was very little, and the emoluments received from the office of justice were still less. More than half a century ago the citizens of Chatfield commenced electing John Burg- bacher as justice, and when he became county commissioner they let him off for two terms, but when he returned in 1871, they again pressed him into the service as justice and he was holding the office when he died 30 years later. Mr. Burgbacher has the record, having been elected justice for 13 terms of three years each. His partner, Frederick Hipp had only eighteen years, but after he was elected to the county office he never went back to Chat- field. The other veteran justices were Amos Morse of Auburn, David Ogden of Jackson, William Hise of Liberty and John Warner of Vernon with thirty years each; S. A. Mc- Keehen of Liberty, Abraham Underwood of Polk, Harvey Close of Texas and W. B. Cum- mins of Whetstone, with 27 years each, the last two persons being modern, as they still hold the position. Mr. Close inherited the of- fice, as his father, Nelson Close was justice from 1852 to 1873: C. D. Ward of Bucyrus, John Holman of Holmes, Charles B. Shumaker of Polk, Solomon Harley of Sandusky, J. F. Coder of Tod, and John W. Humphrey of Vernon have a record of 24 years, with Messrs.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

Harley and Coder still in office. Frederick Hipp of Chatfield and Matthias Kibbler of Cranberry had 21 years, making 17 men who averaged 27 years each. Another gentleman with a record of eight terms in this county can well be called the movable justice. In 1873 and 1876 Rufus Aurend was elected justice by the citizens of Tod township, but he left there and moved across the line into Holmes town- ship and in 1880 the citizens there elected him to the same office. After being elected for four terms in Holmes he moved over into Liberty as the only way to escape being a justice, as Mr. Hise and Mr. McKeehen were serving so faithfully in that township there was no dan- ger of any justiceship being thrust upon him. Misfortune followed him, as he reached Lib- erty just as Mr. Hise, ripe in years, was called to his reward, and Mr. Aurend in 1900 was elected to the office. He served one term and came to Bucyrus, where aspirants for every office were so numerous that he would be al- lowed to pass his declining days in peace. But in 1912 a vacancy occurred in the office and the township trustees looking around for some suitable and competent man to place in the position, selected Mr. Aurend. He accepted, and commenced business; his first case came on, and after what was no doubt a correct de- cision, the attorney who had lost found that the new justice had omitted some formality in the securing of his commission ; he therefore appealed the case, averring that Mr. Aurend "was not qualified to act as justice." This was the final blow ; a man who had served in three townships, and who had given satisfaction for more than twenty years, to have his qualifica- tions doubted by a young attorney. The at- torney explained, the friends argued, but it was useless, and he threw up the job, but had established the record of having served as justice of the peace in four townships.

The people of today little know what sound sense and what absolute justice was dealt out by these officers more than half a century ago, and the court records show what townships had these practical men and kept them in office, for from those townships few law suits came up to the county court; they had a way of settling their cases, and settling them right, believing what was just and right was law. A

few incidents have been gathered of early jus- tice-not law, but justice :

About 1830 Robert Mays was justice of the peace of Lykens township. Settlers were few and far between and hogs ran at large, the honesty of the few settlers being the only as- surance that stray pork would be returned to the rightful owner. But one shiftless settler named Pratt found it easier to kill stray pork- :ers than to raise his own. He had been ar- rested and fined several times for his petty stealing, but stray hogs continued to disappear and the pork was frequently traced to Pratt's shanty. Finally, he was caught in the act of stealing one of his neighbor's hogs, and Robert Mays, decided to try a new method for putting a stop to his depradations. Pratt was illiterate, and like all petty thieves an arrant coward. Squire Mays had him arrested by the con- stable and brought to his cabin for trial, and the neighbors were notified to appear as wit- nesses. The evidence was clear, there being no question of the man's guilt, but the squire went further, and many other cases were traced to Pratt. Finally the justice, putting on his most solemn look, reviewed the man's many cases of stealing, called his attention to the fact that he had been several times fined for similar offenses; that in a new country, remote from courts, it was the duty of the justice to protect innocent citizens from such outrages; that the right of property must be held sacred; that warnings and fines had all been useless, and much as he regretted it, he saw no other way of protecting the people than by sentencing the man to death. It was therefore the judgment of the court, that the constable procure a rope immediately, and the man be taken to some convenient tree and there hanged by the neck until he was dead. The man begged and pleaded for his life, but the justice was firm, and dispatched the constable for a rope, and instructed the settlers to look up some suitable tree on which the man could pay the penalty for his crimes. This left no one in the cabin but the justice and the terror- stricken wretch. The justice took advantage of the occasion to depict in the most gruesome terms the disgraceful death the man had brought on himself by his acts, and the scared man finding all hope gone did exactly what was

RESOLVED WHITE Settled in Auburn Township, 1819. Descendant of Peregrine White, who Came Over in the Mayflower.

COL. WILLIAM CRAWFORD (At the age of 35 years)

LUCY SEARL WHITE Wife of Resolved White

1-6

BUCYRUS BAR, 1863

Upper Row, Left to Right-Franklin Adams, David Cahill, S. R. IIarris, John Hopley, William Scroggs, Matthias Buchman.

Lower Row, Left to Right-Jacob Scroggs, Thomas Beer, A. M. Jackson, C. W. Butterfield, E. B. Finley.

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anticipated. He made a dash from the cabin, one of the early pioneers said he went through the window. The alarm was given, and the man's speed was accelerated by shots being fired in his direction, care being taken not to hit him as he fled through the woods. The squire, the constable and the witnesses followed in hot haste, yelling and screaming, and skill- fully managing to keep just close enough to the fleeing man to spur him to renewed exer- tions, and finally after an hour's chase the pursuing party returned to the cabin. Noth- ing was ever heard or seen of him again, and no report ever reached the settlers as to where or when he stopped running.

One of the first law suits in Liberty township was before Ichabod Smith, justice of the peace, on a complaint against Isaac Weatherby for running his saw-mill on the Sabbath Day. The defendant brought in testimony showing the uncertain nature of the stream; that the water-power was an important item of his property ; that when the water was sufficient to run the mill it must be utilized, otherwise there would be great loss to him, and delays and inconvenience to his customers. The jus- tice held that when the water was there the mill ought to be allowed to run, even if it was Sunday, whereupon he discharged Weatherby and taxed the costs against the complainant. Of course the law of the state prohibited labor on the Sabbath, and the complainant appealed to the court above, when the judgment for costs against him was set aside. The com- plainant was conscientious in his protest against labor on the Sabbath day, and the only way to stop the mill was to buy it, which he did, and leased it to his brother-in-law, who was as re- ligious as himself, and the mill did not run on Sunday.

Another case was before Squire Elias Mark- ley. A man named Smith sued Charles Dony for pay for grain. The account had stood for months, and there were counter accounts, and in the mix-up Dony was given a judg- ment against Smith for $8, and when the judgment was announced Dony refused to take it, saying Smith owed him only $2.

John Slifer was a justice of the peace in Liberty township from 1835 to 1841. He was the man who laid out the village of Annapolis. He was a fine scholar, and an excellent pen-

man, but at times exceedingly careless in his writing. One time he sent a transcript to the Court of Common Pleas so illegible that it was almost impossible to read it, and Judge Ozias Bowen, who was puzzled over the document, expressed his disgust with the remark, "The people must be fools to elect such ignorant men as justices of the peace." Josiah Scott was present, and was well acquainted with Slifer, and he remarked to the judge: "How would it be, judge, if this ignorant justice could write a better hand than either of us!" Slifer hap- .pened to be present in the court room, and he came forward and asked the clerk, Zalmon Rowse, for a pen and sheet of paper, which were given, and which he paid for. He took the transcript, and made a copy in a neat and faultless hand, the most perfect of writing, and handed it to the judge. Bowen looked at it with astonishment, and turning to Slifer, exclaimed, "Why didn't you write in that way before?" Slifer looked at the judge, and then quietly replied, "Because, sir, I supposed I was writing it for the perusal of men, and not of boys," and then turned and stalked out of the court room.

Squire Peter Worst was a justice in Bucyrus township in the thirties. He was a tailor by trade, and had his shop about where the Kehrer Block now is. A case came before him, and with his docket by his side, he sat on his bench, cross-legged, and sewing while the trial was going on. The plaintiff argued the case, and the squire laid down the cloth on which he was working, picked up the docket, and was making his entries. The lawyer for the defense was on his feet to reply, and waited patiently for the attention of the court. Becoming impa- tient, he finally inquired: "Doesn't the court wish to hear any evidence on the other side?" The squire, having finished his entries, picked up his cloth and resumed his work, and gazing calmly at the attorney through his glasses, said : "Oh yes, you can talk just as much as you please, but I have decided the case in favor of the plaintiff." It was this same honest old jus- tice of whom Judge Hall remarked, "When I die, I want Peter Worst to settle my estate!" The judge did die in 1863, and like the bright and careless, intellectual and brilliant man he was, he left no will, but Peter Worst was his administrator, and the neat and exact accounts

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of that settlement are on file in the Probate office.

One of the pioneer justices in an adjoining township was Robert Newall, who sometimes decided cases according to his own views of equity, without regard to either law or prec- edent. A man named Andrew Clark wished to bring suit against Martin Mason for a bal- ance claimed for work performed on a mill- race. It was against pioneer ethics for a jus- tice of the peace to encourage litigation, and Squire Newall endeavored to effect a settle- ment between the parties without resorting to the law, but, being unable to do so, he issued a summons to Constable Kline against the said Martin Mason, the writ being a verbal one, and the constable's mace of authority was a buckeye club, with which he was instructed to belabor the said defendant over the "head and shoulders" until he would consent to accom- pany the officer to the court room of the jus- tice. Force, however, was not required in this case, as Martin recognized the potent power of the constable's club, and he obeyed the sum- mons promptly and was soon arraigned before His Honor, who required that plaintiff and defendant each make a statement of his side of the case, and after this was done the court decided that Mason should pay to Clark two bushels of corn, and continuing said: "Clark being a poor man and having no horse, you, Mason, shall deliver the corn at Clark's house. Forever after this you are to be good friends and neighbors, and if either shall ever fail in the least particular to obey this order, I will have the offender before me and whip him within an inch of his life. As for myself, I charge no fees. Not so with Constable Kline; his charge being a quart of whisky, which plain- tiff and defendant will see is brought into court as promptly as possible for the use of all present."

Another case, and although at a much later date was nearly fifty years ago, occurred in Bucyrus. George Donnenwirth was the justice and a man was brought before him for petty stealing. He had as his attorney Alfred C. Cattley, who was reading law in the office of S. R. Harris. It was a clear case, but in the course of the examination, Cattley asked that the prisoner be sworn. The justice was in- dignant at the idea of a thief being allowed

to give testimony, and promptly refused to let him testify. Cattley stated that by a recent law the man could testify, and the justice insisted on seeing the law, so the student went over to the office of Mr. Harris, and returned with the printed slip. The Legislature was in session, and had just passed the law allowing a criminal to testify in his own behalf. The squire put on his glasses, read the law over carefully, and after some reflection, said: "Well, it appears to be the law, and this court will always obey the laws of the state, what- ever they are." He studied over the matter again, and finally turned to the attorney and said very disgustedly, "The man can testify," and voiced his indignation with the remark, "but I want to tell you before hand I shan't. believe a d-n word he says." And he didn't, for the man got thirty days.

When the second term of court was held in Bucyrus, the brick schoolhouse had been built and this was used for court purposes, and if the case was to a jury, these gentlemen were escorted to some convenient room in the vil- lage where they were locked up until they reached a decision, and in fine weather some- times held their consultation in the woods back of the schoolhouse, the sheriff sitting on a stump at some distance keeping his eye on them.

The first early records of the court are in 1834, Hon. David Higgins was the presiding judge, and his associates were Abel Cary, Josiah Robertson and George Poe. The first grand jury of which there is any record was composed of the following persons: David Ellis, foreman; John Burwell, Emanuel Dear- dorff, David Marquis, Joseph Hart, William Arnold, Adam Beck, Isaac Cornell, James Higbee, William Scott, Robert Foster, Isaac Rice, Joseph S. Smith, William Cooper, Wil- liam Robinson.

At this term several cases were called, and the papers were reported missing, and it is probable Judge Higgins, who was a trifle irri- tated, made some reflections on the clerk for the next day the following appears on the court docket :

"Personally appeared in open court Zalmon Rowse, who being duly sworn, doth depose and say that he is clerk of the court, and that on the night of the 16th day of March, 1834,

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some person or persons entered the clerk's of- fice of the Court of Common Pleas and took from the proper place of deposit the files and papers belonging to the causes pending in court, that the same have been taken beyond the reach or knowledge of the deponent and he knows not whether said papers have been de- stroyed or what has become of them."

Further Zalmon Rowse tendered his resig- nation as clerk of the court, and the judge ac- cepted it, and turned around and reappointed him for another term of seven years, showing if he was irritable at times, he was just. The record shows that thirteen cases were called and had to be continued on account of the records being stolen, so minor business was mostly transacted. A wave had swept over the town against gambling so a special grand jury was called to investigate the matter, and Samuel Norton was made the foreman, and true bills were returned against six of the most promi- nent men in the village for gambling, and the next day they found six more, and followed it up with a batch of fourteen. A few were fined but most of them acquitted, some of the cases being carried over for several terms. Several tavern keepers were fined $5 and costs for selling liquor to the Indians, after which their licenses were renewed for another year.

The court held three terms a year, and the prosecutor was allowed $100 a year for his services, the sheriff and clerk each being allowed $60 a year.

At this term of court, a case was heard and damages of $25 were allowed the plaintiff by the presiding judge. It is probable the law was very strongly in favor of the plaintiff, but the three associate justices had an idea that real justice was on the side of the defendant, and they reversed the verdict and found for the defendant, and further ordered that the plain- tiff should pay the costs.

It is probable that Judge Higgins was in- dignant, as the next term of court shows the following entries :

"Sept. 8, 1834-No quorum; George Poe adjourned court until next day at noon.

JOHN MODERWELL, Sheriff."

"Tuesday, Sept. 9-Cary and Poe present and adjourned until Wednesday at 10, when no quorum appearing court adjourned without day."

When the next term arrived, the sheriff must have had his doubts as to whether the judge had recovered from his anger, as he sum- moned no jury. The court met on Monday, Feb. 10, and there being no quorum they ad- journed until Tuesday. The next day Asso- ciates George Poe, Abel Cary and Hugh Welsh were there, and they granted a few administra- tion papers, and adjourned until Wednesday, and that day the Hon. David Higgins showed up, and proceeded to business by ordering the sheriff to secure a jury immediately, which he did, most of them Bucyrus men.

The securing of a jury was 110 easy matter in those days, and the records show instances of men being fined for ignoring the summons. A story is told of the county west of Crawford in 1835. The country was sparsely settled, the farmers were busy, and the sheriff had great difficulty in securing a jury. On the morning of the second day, the judge opened the court and asked the sheriff if the jury was full. The sheriff replied: "Not quite full yet, judge. I have eleven men locked up in the jail, and my dogs and deputies are after the twelfth man."

Courts in those days granted licenses author- izing ministers to solemnize marriages. Among those early ministers are :

March, 1834-Harrison Jones, Church of Christ.

February, 1835-John Davis, United Breth- ren in Christ; John Smith, United Brethren in Christ.

June, 1836-Charles Edward Van Voorhis, Church of Christ; Frederick G. Maschkop, German Reformed.

September, 1837-Peter Gatz, Church of the Evangelical Association.

July, 1838-George Sagear, Evangelical As- sociation.

Other duties of the court were the issuance of naturalization papers. The first found are as follows :

1836-Robert Reid, March 18; Stephen Brinkman, Sept. 13.

1837-Ehregott Hesse, March 13: Samuel Roth, March 13; Garnett Sheets, March 15; Lewis Heinlen, March 16; Jacob Scherer, Sept. II ; George Fouser, Sept. 11; Jacob Genther, Sept. II; Frederick Stoll, Sept. 12.

1838-Frederick Myers, March 1; John Adam Gossman, March 1 ; John H. Fry, March

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY

2; Adam High, Conrad Haas, George Resler, John George Strawhucker, Frederick Weaver, Conrad Beaver, Joseph Boehler, July 16; Christian Widman, July 20; Andrew Wingert, George Donnenwirth, Christian Pfleiderer, Ja- cob Wingert, Sept. 29; Michael and Anthony Brackley.

In 1834 David Chute was granted a license to keep a tavern in Chatfield township for $8; Aaron M. Decker, tavern in Liberty township, $5; John Luke, tavern, Liberty township, $5; Abraham Hahn, Bucyrus, tavern license re- newed he to pay $10 and all arrearages.

At the July term in 1836, the docket con- tains the entry "Franklin Adams admitted to the Bar." Below is written in pencil, "Came from Mansfield, August, 1837." For seventy years he was a practitioner at the Crawford County bar.

Several parties were tried for minor of- fenses, and given five days' confinement in the county jail on bread and water. The same term when the spasm of reform swept over the city in regard to gambling, three men were brought before the court charged with horse stealing and were discharged.

The first penitentiary case of which record is found was on Sept. 29, 1838, when Ephraim Eaton admitted he was guilty of stealing a horse, and was sentenced to the penitentiary at hard labor for three years, and to pay the costs of the prosecution, amounting to $30.88.

When practicing law in Bucyrus in the early days Josiah Scott commenced a suit with the following lines :

"Suit for trespass. Sent to justice ;

This is to cause you for to summon

Linsey woolsey, what you call 'em ?

The crazy son of old Spitzholm,

To answer for his devilish tricks

Of cutting sundry sticks-

Of timber, on Sam Myer's land."

Another case of Mr. Scott's was against John Luke. Seventy years ago Mr. Luke kept a tavern where the boundary road crosses the Sandusky river in Sandusky township. It was a popular resort, and in the early days did a large business. In front of the tavern was the usual post, and on top of it was the signboard on which was painted a black horse, so it was known as the Black Horse tavern. One of the neighbors had some trouble with Mr. Luke,

and he hired Scott to conduct the case for him. The trial came off, and it was to a jury. One of the jurymen was Resolved White of Au- burn township who has handed down the story. In the course of his speech, Mr. Scott warmed to his subject, with the following very far from flattering reference to the defendant :

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History of Crawford County, Ohio, and representative citizens, Part 82

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850- Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company Number of Pages: 1302

Author: Hopley, John E. (John Edward), 1850-
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago,Ill., Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 1302