USA > Ohio > Auglaize County > History of western Ohio and Auglaize County, with illustrations and biographical sketches of pioneers and prominent public men > Part 43
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Lewis Myers and James F. Smith were indicted at the Octo- ber term of Court. When arraigned in court, Myers pleaded guilty as charged in the indictment and was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in the penitentiary. James F. Smith pleaded "not guilty," and after the third trial was acquitted. In his last trial, at Lima, he was defended by John McSweeny, of Wooster, and W. V. M. Layton, of Wapakoneta.
A meeting of the county commissioners was held immediately following the conviction of Myers, to consider the proper steps to be taken in the collection of the money embezzled. After due
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deliberation each of the bondsmen was given the privilege of pay- ing his liability on the bond in three equal annual payments.
After much agitation by the bondsmen and their friends, in the months that followed, the propriety of relieving them of their liability on the bond was submitted to a vote of the people at the April election in 1880. Unexpectedly to the advocates of the measure, it was defeated by a majority of over seventeen hundred votes.
Ten years later, August 29th, 1887, the citizens of Auglaize county were again startled by the report that Israel Lucas, county treasurer, was an embezzler of the county's money to the amount of $31,643.94.
On Saturday, the 27th, he left the office in charge of his nephew, Gemmi Lucas, saying that he and his wife would spend Sunday in Toledo, visiting friends, and would return on Monday. He did not return on Monday. On Tuesday the deputy became suspicious that something was wrong, and consulted his father, Middleton Lucas, concerning the situation of affairs. In the evening of the same day the commissioners were called in, and an examination was made of the contents of the safe, when it was dis- covered that a robbery had been committed, amounting to $31,643.94.
Instead of stopping at Toledo, Lucas and his wife went to Detroit and crossed the river; from which point they went to Toronto.
The excitement in the county, following the departure of Lucas, was even greater than it was ten years before. The public feeling was greatly intensified when it became known that a num- ber of sureties on his bond had also been bondsmen for Lewis Myers.
On the second of September the commissioners declared the office vacant, and tendered the position to a citizen of St. Marys, who, for certain reasons, declined to accept it. Two other citizens of known integrity were solicited to accept the office before a man was found who had the courage to take charge of the trust. C. C. Pepple, of Wayne township, was prevailed upon to accept the appointment. He served the county faithfully and efficiently for three years.
No trace of the absconding treasurer was discovered until the following February, when he was located in Toronto by A. Bor-
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quin, of New Bremen. With the assistance of Reuben Burrows: and Cuddy, detectives of Toronto, he arrested Lucas and his wife on the charge of bringing stolen money into Canada. Prior to the arrest, Detective Borquin telegraphed to the prosecuting attor- ney and sheriff of Auglaize county, asking for directions of pro- cedure in making the arrest. A reply was sent, ordering the. immediate arrest of Lucas and his wife. A few hours later, C. A .. . Layton, prosecuting attorney; William Schulenberg, sheriff ; . George Van Oss and Henry Koop, commissioners ; Charles Hueb- ner, J. Romshe, and Christian Heisler, bondsmen, departed from Wapakoneta for Toronto, arriving there on the morning of the 12th. A preliminary hearing was set for Tuesday, at which time Layton, on pretense of wanting time to secure evidence for extra- diting the prisoners, secured the postponement of the trial until Friday. At this stage of the proceedings Layton consulted the Attorney for the Crown, and the two went to work systematically to frighten Lucas, by causing him to believe that irregularities had been discovered on the books at Wapakoneta on which a charge of forgery could be made, and thereby secure his extradition.
The prosecutors were assisted very much by the city press of Toronto, in which the charge of forgery was reiterated from day to day until Lucas became alarmed. On Thursday evening he proposed to compromise. At first he proposed to return one thousand dollars, but was gradually worked up to twelve thousand dollars. On Friday the prosecutor and commissioners, in consid- eration of twelve thousand dollars, deposited by Lucas in a bank of Toronto, relinquished all civil demands against him. Immedi- ately following the agreement and payment of the money, Lucas . and his wife were released.
Of the twelve thousand dollars, six hundred and five dollars were paid to the Crown attorney, detectives, and for court ex- penses.
Within a week from that time the Auglaize county treasurer received a draft for $11,394.44.
In accordance with the reward of twenty-five per cent. offered by the commissioners for the recovery of the whole or any part of the money embezzled, C. A. Layton received $2,848.61.
It may seem to the general reader that an undue amount of attention has been given to the two robberies. The writer feels that the interest taken in them at the time they were committed, and since then, warrants the notice given them in this connection.
CHAPTER XVI.
COURTS AND BAR OF AUGLAIZE COUNTY.
The first term of Court of Common Pleas, in Auglaize county, was held in the old Methodist church, near where the present church edifice of that denomination stands, in May, 1848; Patrick G. Goode, presiding as President Judge, assisted by George W. Holbrook, David Simpson and John McLean, associates.
Patrick G. Goode was a distinguished citizen of the state. He was born in Prince Edwards county, Virginia, May 10, 1798, and came to Ohio in 1805. He was educated in Professor Espy's school of Philadelphia and studied law under the tutorship of Judge Collett, of Ohio. In 1833, he was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives. In 1836 he was elected to Congress from a district extending from Dayton to Toledo, comprising fourteen counties. He was twice elected to that office, but declined' a third election. In 1844, the sixteenth judicial district was cre- ated, and was composed of Shelby and Williams, with all the inter- vening counties, ten in number. Judge Goode was elected Presi- dent Judge of this district by the General Assembly for seven years. His term of office expired in 1851, when he retired from the legal profession, and spent the remainder of his life in the service of the Methodist church. He died at Sidney, Ohio, Octo- ber 7, 1862.
Under the Constitution of 1851, Allen, Hardin, Shelby, Au- glaize, Madison, Union and Logan counties were erected in one. Common Pleas District, known as No. 3, Sub-division No. I, of . which Benjamin F. Metcalf was elected judge in October, 1851. He was succeeded by Judge William Lawrence, who presided over the district as reorganized until 1864, when he resigned to enter Congress.
In 1851, Mercer, Van Wert, Putnam, Paulding, Defiance, Williams, Henry, and Fulton were organized as District No. 3, Subdivision No. 2, and John M. Palmer elected Judge in October, 1851. He was succeeded in 1855-56 by Alexander S. Latty. Under the act of April 8th, 1858, this subdivision was reorganized,
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and Allen, Auglaize, Mercer, Van Wert and Putnam were made an additional subdivision, of which Benjamin F. Metcalf was elected Judge in October, 1858, re-elected in October, 1863, and occupied the position until his death in February, 1865.
Judge Metcalf, in stature, was not above the medium height, muscular, and commanding in appearance. Few men of his time had a better knowledge of the intricacies of the law, or a keener perception of the salient points of a case. He was endowed with superior conversational powers which rendered him a great favorite with the bar. Many are the stories told of Judge Met- calf's quickness of wit and readiness in the practice of his pro- fession. The following is from an address of J. L. H. Long, de- livered before the Putnam County Pioneer Association, September 3d, 1885 :
"I remember being present in the court room at one time when he was defending a man who was charged with burglary. The strongest link in the chain of circumstantial evidence against the prisoner was the identification by the prosecuting witness of a piece of silver money, a Prussian Thaler, which was found on the prisoner as a part of the money stolen. Metcalf had managed to procure sixteen or eighteen of these Prussian Thalers, and when the prosecuting witness, after having identified the piece of money was turned over to him for cross-examination, Metcalf picked up the Thaler and presenting it to the witness, asked, 'Are you sure this is the piece of money you lost?' 'Yes, sir,' answered the wit- ness. Metcalf laid it down on the table behind a book, where the witness could not, but the jury could, see it. After another ques- tion or so to the witness, during which he got one of his own Thalers out of his pocket unobserved by the witness, he handed him another Thaler with the remark, 'Take that piece of money again and see if there is any mark on it by which you can know it.' The witness answered that there was no particular mark, but he knew it was the same, and Metcalf placed that piece by the side of the other, and so with a question or so between them he got the witness to identify each of the sixteen or eighteen Thalers, and finally, removing the book, he called the witness to pick out of the pile the particular Thaler he claimed to have been stolen. The witness, utterly dumbfounded, refused to identify any of them, and the prisoner was acquitted.
"And of his eccentricities, for he was eccentric, they tell the
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following story: In those days there was not at either of the county seats practice enough to justify a lawyer in relying on his home practice, and the lawyers were in the habit of going from county seat to county seat as the Court moved, to attend to their cases, this they called 'riding the circuit.' Upon one of these trips Judge Metcalf, in company with the other lawyers, staid all night one night at Pendleton. In the course of the evening he complained of being ill, and insisted upon it that he was going to die, called up one of his brother lawyers, handed him his pocket- book, and requested his friends to give it with his last loving remembrance to his poor wife, and having thus arranged his worldly. affairs, closed his eyes and composed his countenance for death. Under these solemn circumstances it was conceived emi- nently proper by his brethren of the bar that his passage to the other world should be eased by sacred harmony, and Judge John M. Palmer was selected as one peculiarly fitted to conduct the services. Palmer with a solemn countenance sat down by the bed and sang - not a hymn as expected - but a fancy little comic song to a queer jerky sort of tune and very pathetic chorus. He had hardly finished the first verse, until Metcalf, whose mouth had commenced to twitch in spite of him, raised up in bed and pro- ceeded forthwith to kick Palmer out of the room, with the remark that they were a d-d set of heathens that wouldn't let a man die in peace. But he was cured."
Following the death of Judge Metcalf, O. W. Rose of Van Wert, was appointed to fill the vacancy. In October, 1865, James Mackenzie, of Lima, was elected to the Judgeship of Common Pleas for the unexpired term, and re-elected in 1868.
James Mackenzie was born in Scotland, July 14, 1814. His father, William L. Mackenzie, settled in Canada in 1825. Soon afterward he joined the liberal party and established the "Colonial Advocate," in which he advocated the right of the Canadian people to a liberal and free government. At that time, all power was vested in the colonial governor and a junto of office-holders, known as the "Family Compact," who controlled all offices, ju- dicial and political, except members of the lower house of Parlia- ment. In 1837, the liberal party revolted and attempted to estab- lish an independent government. The insurgents were led by William Lyon Mackenzie. The movement received much encour- agement in the United States, especially in New York. From that
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State a party of seven hundred men, taking arms, seized and forti- fied Navy Island in the Niagara river. The loyalists of Canada attempted to capture the place, and failed. They succeeded, how- ever in firing the Caroline, the supply ship of the adventurers, cut her moorings, and sent the burning vessel over Niagara. Falls. A sufficient force to dislodge the "patriots" having collected, they withdrew to the other points along the line. A proclamation of neutrality by President Van Buren, forbidding interference with the affairs of Canada, put an end to the war. After the defeat of the "patriots," William L. Mackenzie and family settled in New York, where he died in 1861.
James Mackenzie, who had become a printer by serving in his father's office, continued to advocate Canadian independence. After various adventures he established a newspaper at Lockport, New York in the interest of the Canadian cause, called the Free- man's Advocate. It had for a time a large circulation on the frontier, but was discontinued after the defeat of General Bierce at Sandwich in 1839. After the discontinuance of the Freeman's Advocate, he was employed as editor of the Workingmen's Advo- cate, a daily paper published in the interests of workingmen, until it was consolidated with the Advertiser. He then decided to come to Ohio, and located for a time at Cleveland, where he studied law under Messrs. Bishop and Backus. In this city he was ad- mitted to citizenship and to the bar. From Cleveland he moved to Henry county, Ohio, where he engaged in teaching, and while engaged in that vocation was elected township clerk, and after- ward, in October, 1844, prosecuting attorney of Henry county. At the close of his term of office he purchased the "Kalida Adver- tiser," of which he was the publisher for ten years thereafter. It was the Democratic paper of the county, and received support from several other counties that had not then established papers. In October, 1846, and again in 1848, and in 1850, Mr. Mackenzie was elected prosecuting attorney of Putnam county. In 1853 he. was elected a member of the Ohio State Legislature from the counties of Putnam and Henry. In 1856 he was again elected prosecuting attorney of Putnam county. At the expiration of his term of office he moved to Allen county, and for two years pub- lished the Allen County Democrat. In 1861, and again in 1863, Mr. Mackenzie was elected prosecuting attorney of Allen county, and in 1865, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas to supply the
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vacancy caused by the death of Judge Metcalf. After fourteen . years of service as Common Pleas Judge he returned to the prac- tice of law.
Judge Mackenzie was a brillant and successful lawyer. As a judge he was quick to comprehend cases and arrive at conclu- sions, and was exceedingly prompt and able in the dispatch and transaction of the duties of his office.
In his many years of experience as an editor and publisher, he acquired an extensive general information that was always at his command when he had occasion to use it. In sections of the state where he was known, his services as a lecturer on popular subjects were always in demand. During the last few years of his life he lived with his daughters in the city of Lima. He died May 9th, 1901.
In March, 1869, Edwin M. Phelps was elected under the act creating an additional judgship for the subdivision.
Judge Edwin M. Phelps was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, on the 29th day of November, 1813, and died on the 19th day of July, 1883, at the age of almost seventy years. He came to Ohio in early boyhood, having been prepared for college in Derby, Con- necticut. · He entered Kenyon College in 1829, and graduated in 1833, delivering the Latin salutatory. Among his class, that of '33, were Edward M. Stanton, afterward Secretary of War, David Davis of Illinois, and Bishop Wilmer. Immediately upon gradu- ating he began the study of law in the office of Judge Lane, of Norwalk. While pursuing his law studies he also engaged in teaching in the Norwalk Academy, at that time very prosperous and one of the best institutions in the state, Dr. Edward Thomp- son, afterward Bishop Thompson, being president.
We here quote from his autobiography, written in 1881 :
"While studying with Judge Lane I also taught Latin, Greek and the natural sciences to a very large class of young men and women, numbering one hundred and forty. Among them some have risen to distinction and many others are dead. Among them were the first wife of Bishop Thompson, Rev. George Brecken- ridge, Rev. Thomas Barkdul, Rev. John Wheeler, since President of Baldwin University, and Bishop Harris. I tried to teach them well and faithfully, and many of them remembered me kindly in after years. I here met my wife who was also engaged in teach- ing." In 1835 he was admitted to the bar, the Supreme Court
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sitting in Columbus, and came immediately to St. Marys. In his autobiography he says: "I arrived in St. Marys on the night of the fourth of March, 1835. I reached there on foot, the little sleigh in which I had traveled having given out. I waded the river and came into town about ten o'clock. I found a little town of about twenty houses, all log. I was too poor to leave and too depressed to stay. How kind and friendly these people were to me, but they have all passed away."
Judge Phelps joined the Methodist church the first Sabbath after reaching St. Marys with his young bride, who was already an earnest Christian. In the act of joining the church he received the witness of the Spirit and very often referred to it in relating his religious experience.
Judge Phelps was twice elected State Senator, and twice elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Of his competency, honesty, and faithfulness, the public whom he served well know. He was one of the oldest residents of the county, and, it is said, the oldest practitioner in the county, having been a practicing attorney for forty-eight years.
The following judges have presided in Auglaize county since 1878:
Charles M. Hughes, from 1878 to 1888.
John J. Moore, from 1878 to 1888.
James H. Day, from 1879 to 1889.
John E. Ritche, from 1888 to 1898.
Stephen A. Armstrong, 1899, now presiding (1902).
William T. Mooney, from 1899 to 1901.
Hugh Mathers, 1901, now presiding ( 1902).
AUGLAIZE COUNTY BAR.
LAWYERS IN PRACTICE FROM 1848 TO 1902.
Anderson R. B., Wapakoneta. Andrews Geo. W., Wapakoneta.
Alspaugh Jacob, Wapakoneta. Barr Christian, Wapakoneta. Brotherton Theodore, Wapakoneta. Blume L. N., Wapakoneta. Bullock Charles, St. Marys.
Craig Joseph B., Wapakoneta. Caples John, Wapakoneta.
Combs Arthur, Wapakoneta.
Cowen C. W., St. Marys. Crane William, St. Marys.
Culliton Anthony, St. Marys.
Callen Daniel, Mercer Co.
Conklin Jacob, Shelby Co. Connoughton John, Wapakoneta. Cunningham Doan, Allen Co.
Devore Benjamin, Wapakoneta.
Dumbroff Michael, Wapakoneta. Davis George R., Wapakoneta.
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Detweiler W. E., Wapakoneta. Goeke J. H., Wapakoneta.
Gnagi Samuel, Wapakoneta. Godfrey Thomas, Celina.
Horn Frederic, Wapakoneta. Hoskins S A., Wapakoneta. Jackson Philip, Wapakoneta. Koenig J. H., St. Marys.
Kennedy Gilbert, Wapakoneta.
Layton W. V. M., Wapakoneta.
Layton Fernando C., Wapakoneta. Layton C. A., Wapakoneta.
Linzee Benj., Wapakoneta.
Lusk A. J., New Hampshire. Layton Roy E., Wapakoneta. Lane Thomas, St. Marys. Lamison Charles, Allen Co.
Le Fever Benjamin, Shelby Co.
LeBlond F. C., Mercer Co.
Marshall R. D., Wapakoneta. McKee W., Wapakoneta. Miles William, Wapakoneta.
Musser John, Wapakoneta.
Mott Samuel R. Jr., St. Marys.
Mott Samuel R. Sr., St. Marys.
Mooney, William, St. Marys. Mooney Daniel F., St. Marys. Mannery David, St. Marys. Murray. James, Shelby Co. McSweeny John, Wooster, Ohio. Nichols E. S., Wapakoneta. Ohler Clement, Uniopolis. Plunkett Joseph, St. Marys. Phelps Edward M., St. Marys.
Pillars Isaiah, Allen Co.
Ritche Walter B., Allen Co.
Schoonover Jno. T., St. Marys. Sikes L. M., St. Marys.
Stueve Clement, Wapakoneta.
Smith Charles, St. Marys.
Smith Edward, St. Marys. South R. B., Wapakoneta.
Van Anda John, Wapakoneta.
Van Anda F. C., Wapakoneta. Valandigham C. L., Dayton, Ohio. Walkup John, Wapakoneta. Walter Joseph J., Wapakoneta. Waters Alexander, Wapakoneta.
· Wendeln Anthony, St. Marys. Williamson C. W., Wapakoneta.
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CHAPTER XVII.
MILITARY HISTORY.
Many of the pioneers of Auglaize county served in the War of 1812, and a few in the American Revolution. The names of these gallant men appear in the roster that follows.
The soldiers of Auglaize county who served in the Civil War were distributed among the 37th, 45th, 71st, 99th, and 118th Regi- ments of Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
The 37th Ohio Regiment was recruited in part from the counties of Auglaize, Mercer and Wyandot. It was the third German regiment organized in the state, and was mustered into service October 2, 1862. Colonel E. Siber, an accomplished Ger- man officer, was selected as the commanding officer of the regi- ment; L. Von Blessingh, of Toledo, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Charles Ankele, of Cleveland, Major.
"It participated in the campaigns of the Kanawha Valley, Arkansas, and the Yazoo River, and again in the investment of Vicksburg. Here the Lieutenant-Colonel was severely wounded, and the command during the next month devolved upon Major Hipp, now of St. Marys. After the fall of Vicksburg, the regi- ment participated in the capture of Jackson, and returned to Cherokee Station, via Memphis and Corinth. It next appeared at Chattanooga, operating in Sugar Creek Valley, and in the march to Kingston, again in command of Major Hipp. It afterward engaged in the movements on the Chattahoochee River, but moved rapidly from here against Atlanta. After the fall of that city, forced marches were made across Georgia and Alabama in pursuit of Hood's cavalry. On November 13, 1864, the regiment entered Atlanta to obtain outfits for the 'grand march to the sea' under Sherman. The history of this march is known, and at its close the regiment camped at Goldsboro, North Carolina, during the capitu- lations of Lee and Johnson. It then marched to Washington, was reviewed by the President and Cabinet, and then transferred to Little Rock, Arkansas, and lastly to Cleveland, Ohio, where the men were discharged, August 12, 1865."
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The 45th Regiment was organized at Camp Chase, August 19th, 1862. In this regiment there were seventy-five recruits from Auglaize county. The regiment entered upon active duty as soon as it was mustered into service. It operated about Danville, and with Woolford's and the Second Ohio Cavalry pursued the forces of John Morgan on his Ohio raid. Again it pursued the command of Colonel Scott as far as Winchester, Kentucky. The regiment now operated in Kentucky and Tennessee until it took part in the battle of Resaca, after which it participated in the Atlanta cam- paign, including the engagements at New Hope Church, Lost Mountain, and Kenesaw Mountain. It then returned to Middle Tennessee and took part in the battles of Franklin and Nashville, which broke the strength of General Hood. The regiment re- turned to Nashville toward the end of April, and was then mustered out of service, on the 15th of June, having at that time two months to serve to complete its term of enlistment.
FIFTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
This regiment was recruited at Findlay, Ohio, from the fol- lowing counties : Company A, from Putnam county; B, from Hancock, Seneca and Wood; C, from Auglaize, Mercer, and San- dusky; K, in Logan and Sandusky.
The regiment was partially organized at Camp Vance, near . Findlay, Ohio, from where it was moved on the 22nd of January, 1862, to Camp Chase, where it was completed on the Ioth of February, numbering nine hundred and fifty-six men and thirty- eight commissioned officers.
The regiment left Camp Chase on the 18th of February, 1862, under orders to report at Fort Donaldson. When it arrived at Smithland, Kentucky, the order was changed, and it reported at Paducah, Kentucky. Here the regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade, Fifth Division of the Army of the Tennessee. After moving rapidly from point to point they arrived at Pittsburg Land- ing on the 16th of March. On the 19th the regiment went into camp at Shiloh Chapel and participated in the battle at that point on the sixth of April.
The official list of battles in which this regiment bore an hon- orable part is as follows :
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Shiloh, Tennessee, April 6-7, 1862.
Morning Sun, Tennessee, July 1, 1862.
Wolf Creek Bridge, Mississippi, September 23, 1862.
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