USA > Ohio > Hamilton County > Cincinnati > The old court house : reminiscences and anecdotes of the courts and bar of Cincinnati > Part 26
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"Mr. Stalee," said the sheriff, a little gruffly, "didn't I tell you to take that man " ( pointing right at him, and turning Stalee's head and eyes around in the proper direction,) "and put him in the prisoner's box?"
"Yes," replied Stalee, "and burst me if I didn't put him there, too !"
No you didn't," said the sheriff, for there he is, now" -turning Stalee's eyes on the exact straight-line direction of the man-" don't you see him?"
Stalee, with his defective vision, looked and looked, and then turned his eyes over to the prisoner's box, saw his man still there, looking very pale, and being very fidgety, and then he looked again for the man pointed out by the sheriff and at last discovered exactly who was meant, and at this point, he began to smell a wee bit of a mouse. But, in his way, he knew what to do, and, with little ado in the emergency, instead of going directly to the jail witness, he marched himself forthwith to the prisoner's dock, opened the door of the inclosure, and, seizing the trembling man there seated, by the arm, in sotto voce he again said to him, "Sir, what the devil are you doing here in this prisoner's box? Confound you,
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what are you doing in this dock? This is a place for prisoners ; if you don't want to disgrace yourself, come out of here immediately," and out came the gentleman from the prisoner's box, with no resistance, as before, and went his way, in total doubt, maze and wonderment, out of the court room and out of the door of the court house. Having thus delivered the innocent and unconscious indi- vidual, and sent him on his way, whatever that was, Sta- lee now went back to the prisoner-witness. Having again seen, he was right this time, and taking him rudely by the shoulder and arms, he pushed him along as fast as he could, till he got him to the dock, and then thrust him into it and on to the seat. "There, there," said Stalee, "is the place for you, you jail-bird ; you must not come over from the jail and stand this way about the court room ; this is the place for you." This done, Stalee re- turned to the sheriff's desk, and to the sheriff, and said to him, " All right, now, Mr. Sheriff," and resumed his usual place and duty of keeping silence. The wrong and wronged man, entirely ignorant and unacquainted with the matters and doings of courts, did not perceive, and did not know, and never did not know of and about the mistaken outrage committed upon him by our old dutiful friend. He must certainly have entertained a very curious idea of the methods and manners of doing things in courts, and most likely from that misventure day to this, has kept himself aloof from all courts and court houses, prisoners' boxes and such singular affairs, evidently to him some of the seven wonders of the world.
STALEE AND THE STATE'S ATTORNEY'S HAT.
In the old court room of the old court house there were no pegs provided, or other convenience for the dis-
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position of hats ; and as everybody had to have his hat doffed and off, in the presence of the court, it was a great bother to the lawyers to dispose of their hats. They generally laid them about on the table or elsewhere, wherever they found a vacant space. The prosecuting attorney was in the habit of placing his on the lawyers' table before him, to have an eye on it once in a while. He had just purchased a brand-new, spanking-new polished, bright tall silk hat, and was quite proud of it, and one day on coming into court with his great green bag, he relieved himself of, and placed both on the table, and went on with his pressing duties. There was some important trial on hand, and the court room was crowded with all sorts of people, outside and inside the bar. At last there was a dinner recess of the court, and the prosecuting attorney anxious to go home to dinner, could not find his hat. Everybody had gone out of the court room, but deputy sheriff Stalee and himself, and there was an old dingy worn out hat on the table in the place where the prosecuting attorney had put his, and he was obliged to take this, as worn and ugly as it was, and put it on his head, totally unmindful of what might be in it, and go home to dinner.
"Stalee," said the prosecuting attorney, "find my hat by the the time I get back from dinner."
"I will," said Stalee, and this was enough. Dinner over, and judges, lawyers and all the people in court again, Stalee went about the audience, and at last espied an ugly looking loafer leaning over the balustrade of the bar, and near the prisoner's box, with a shining new silk hat, held in his hand behind him. He immediately seized the fellow, and put him in the prisoner's box, and then went to the State's attorney, and said : "I've got your
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hat and your man, there he is in the prisoner's box, and here is your hat. The prosecuting attorney looked, and at once saw, sure enough, the hat was his own. He then with the old hat and with Stalee, went to the prisoner's box, and asked the man if the old hat was his. The man gruffly replied : "yes."
"Take that man to jail, Stalee, he has no fear of justice in the very face of justice itself-take him to jail." And Stalee seized the man, and the poor fellow now began to protest, and protest, that it was all a mistake, he had merely through mistake, changed hats.
" What?" said Stalee, " changed hats? Your are worse than the magician in Aladdin who changed new lamps for old, you change old hats for new, and now instead of going into Aladdin's palace, you will have to go to jail. So come along." And Stalee moved the man off to jail, and he was afterward indicted and tried and convicted, and put on the chain gang. Stalee remarking to the presiding judge of the court at the time. " That fellow imagined that justice here was blind, and would and could not see him take the State's hat, right before its face, but he did not think that I was about watching and guarding these sacred precincts of justice and the law. He will know better next time, when he wants to change an old hat for a new one, he will be apt to do vice versa."
STALEE AND HIS BUNDLE OF PAPERS.
On one occasion, our old friend Stalee, in the obedi- dent pursuit of duty, had the misfortune to lose a bundle of legal documents from the side pocket of his coat, in an alley it afterward appeared, which he had hastily gone through, by way of making a short cut on his errand.
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A little boy picked up the precious papers, and being sensible that they were valuable, he resolved to preserve them, and was slowly making his way out of the alley, with them in his possession. Stalee having missed his papers, hastily returned, retracing his steps, and as he got to the alley, he espied the boy with his papers.
" Hello, you boy, what in the h-ll are you doing with those papers."
The boy stopped in fright, and tremblingly called out : "I found them in the alley there."
By this time, Stalee came to him, and taking the papers from the boy, "they are the d-d things, sure enough," said he, and then changing his tone, he said to the boy : "you are a right good boy-you are a right good clever boy, and you shall be rewarded. Here!" he took a half a dollar from his pocket and gave it to the lad, who gladly received it, and then said: "'Boy, let me tell you, and don't you forget it, if it had not been for you, the wheels of justice of the whole county had been stopped to-day. You have saved the country. You are greater than Washington, who never told a lie !"
STALEE'S REHEARSAL.
Stalee not only presided at the sheriff's desk to keep silence in court, in the Court of Common Pleas of Hamil- ton county, but whenever the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State came here to hold court, twice in the year, he also was at his post of duty, then. He entertained for the Supreme Court of the State the most profound and the most exalted respect, and he wouldn't have any thing go the least wrong there on any account, nor for any con- sideration. As the court was regarded higher than the Court of Common Pleas, so he regarded his important
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duties in it of a higher order, and behaved himself ac- cordingly. In the Supreme Court he always appeared in his Sunday black clothing, and put on a clean shirt every day, and nice collar and bright neck-tie.
His manner of opening the Supreme Court, which was always his duty, was altogether of a higher, superior order to his usual method in the Common Pleas. His "Oh, yes, oh, yes, hear ye, hear ye," etc., was pro- nounced and enunciated more considerately, deliberately and profoundly, and he used to practice his formula of opening court, in order to become more and more perfect in its delivery. Once upon a time the Supreme Court was going to sit and commence its regular session on Monday in the old court house. On Sunday, the day before, quite early in the morning, some peculiar and par- ticular duties called the prosecuting attorney to the grand jury room, above stairs in the second story in the old court house. He was about ascending the steps when he fancied he heard the ringing voice of old Stalee, in his formula of opening court, in the old court room. He listened, and, sure enough, he recognized the voice of Stalee, in the old court room. Was court being opened on Sunday? was suggested to the mind of the prosecuting attorney .. He went to the big door of the court room, and found it firmly fastened and locked, and while he stood there, again he heard the ringing tones of Stalee's voice loudly declaring : "Oh, yes ! Oh, yes ! Hear ye ! Hear ye ! All persons in attendance having business in this court, hear ye, and ye shall be heard. The session of the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio for Hamilton county is now in session!" These last words, "is now in session," Stalee's old mistake, reassured the State's attorney of the inside presence of the loud-mouthed per-
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son of Stalee ; but what on earth was he doing there, thus loudly proclaiming the opening of the Supreme Court. He knocked loudly at the door of the court room, and finally called out for 'Mister Stalee.' But all was then silent as the tomb, within, and "no admission within" was as plain as if it had been painted on a sign on the door. He knocked and knocked again, loudly and more loudly than before, but no answer, and lone and stock- still silence prevailed. He called "Stalee " again, but there was no betrayal of the profound silence within, which now prevailed. At last he gave it up in despair, went up stairs on his business to the grand jury room, and afterward went to his home, leaving Stalee all alone in his glory of silence or proclamation, as he might choose either. Next morning, Monday, I happened in at the opening of the Supreme Court, and Father Stalee was supremely sonorous, eloquent, and vociferously dramatic in his " This session of the Supreme Court is now in session." I went up to Stalee, and said I : " Why, Stalee, how well you opened the Supreme Court this morning ; I never heard you do it better." To which Stalee im- mediately replied, " Well, I ought to, for I rehearsed all day yesterday, Sunday as it was."
STALEE AND BELLAMY STORER.
An important murder trial had occupied a whole week of time, and now it was Saturday night, and the cause not yet given to the jury, but the judges, on ac- count of other pressing duties on the following Monday morning, were determined, and resolved to stick it out in order to end the case by midnight on Saturday. Bellamy Storer was the advocate for the prisoner charged with murder, and by eleven o'clock he finished his argument,
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and gathering up his papers on the table before him, and thrusting a considerable pile of them into his lawyer's green bag, he took the aforesaid green bag, and weary and fatigued, took up his departure for his home, on Eighth street, near Main; arrived there and hanging up his green bag on a nail on the wall of his chamber, he went to bed, and began to sleep. After this, I as State's Attorney, spoke my piece for the State before the court and jury, and now it was almost twelve o'clock, near midnight, but the court concluded to go right on, and the presiding judge, Caldwell, was getting ready to charge the jury. Now it must be remembered that in order to charge the jury on the indictment, this important docu- ment must at the time be in the possession of the court, and so the presiding judge said, "Mr. Prosecutor, hand the court the indictment."
The prosecutor immediately looked for the indict- ment, expecting to find it before him on the table, but he looked, and he looked, and he looked, and he examined his own green bag, and he emptied his own green bag on the table, and looked again among his pile of papers, but it was no use, the needed indictment could not be found-it was not there-and the prosecuting attorney so informed the court. What could have become of it? There was and could be no charge of the jury by the court, without the indictment. " Mister Stalee," who was at his place, all attention, "find that indictment," said the court. No sooner said than done. Stalee, seemingly aware of something curious, donned his hat, and straight out of the court room and the court house he went, and down Main street to Eighth street and out Eighth street to the house and home of Bellamy Storer, Esq. He mounted the steps and rang the door-bell with a tre-
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mendous pull, and rung it again and again, and every time, louder than before. At last the window of the second story front chamber was hoisted, and out peered the large and commanding frontispiece of Bellamy Storer. " What's wanted?" said Storer.
Stalee (on front door steps) .- " The court has sent me for the indictment."
Storer-" What indictment? "
Stalec-"The indictment in the case now before the court."
Storer-" I know nothing about it."
Stalee-" You have got it : I must have it."
Storer-" I haven't got it."
Stalee-" You have ; I saw you take it."
Storer-"When?"
Stalec-" And put it in your green bag."
Storer-" When?"
Stalee-" Just before you left the court house, an hour and a half ago."
Storer-" I didn't take it; but I'll come down and see you."
So Storer put the window down, went down to the front door, unlocked it, and there at midnight stood the deputy sheriff and Mr. Storer-the latter of course, all in night-shirt deshabille, for he had just left his bed, when Stalee's confounded ringing had woke him up in vexation.
Storer-" I haven't got that indictment."
Stalee-" Where's your green bag?"
Storer-" Hanging up in my chamber."
Like lightning Stalee pushed by Mr. Storer, and up the hall stairs and into the front chamber, and to the green bag on the wall, and thrust his hand into it and pulled forth the papers, and examining them, found the
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lost and coveted indictment, and out of the chamber he went again, and down the stairs into the hall and to the front door, where Mr. Storer, in deshabille, was still standing, amazed and wondering what in the name of wonders, Stalee was up to. As Stalee brushed by Mr. Storer he exclaimed, "I've got it, the court is waiting," and then he literally ran all the way up to the court house, and into the court room, and into the bar, and before the bench of the expectant, patient judges, and holding up the indictment, exclaimed at the top of his voice, "I have produced the body of the indictment in court," and handed it over to the presiding judge, who now began and went on with the charge to the jury, and the jury went out to their room to consult of their verdict, and the court adjourned. It was from the lips of Bellamy Storer him- self that I heard of the conduct of Stalee at his house, and he said that he was never more astonished and con- founded at anything in his life, but inasmuch as old Stalee found the veritable indictment in his (Storer's) green bag, he thought it prudence at the time to say no more about it, and he never spoke a word even to Stalee himself about the affair, for as he laughingly said, Stalee had the decided advantage of him through his own foolish mistake in taking the indictment with his own papers from the lawyer's table, and in his confounded hurry, thrusting it unconsciously into his own green bag, and starting rapidly off for home.
STALEE AMONG THE TOMBS !
This anecdote of Father Stalee is somewhat a memorable one. On one occasion he had a particular summons to serve in an important civil case. He hunted all over for the defendant, but could not find him. He
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went to his-the defendant's-usual dwelling house, and did not and could not find him there, but he was there told that the defendant was long since dead and buried. On this information he made a return on the summons that the defendant could not be found, for he had departed this life. The lawyer who brought the suit and had the summons issued, seeing and noticing the return of the sheriff indorsed upon the summons and discrediting the return and the fact, went right to Stalee in the sheriff's office and told him his return was not true ; the defendant was not dead, and the defendant must be served with the summons, either personally, or at his residence. Where- upon Stalee retook the summons, with his return, which were handed him by the lawyer, and resolved to make a sure thing of it. He again went after the man at his dwelling place, and was duly informed again that the man was dead and buried and had his tombstone errected in the Presbyterian graveyard, where the Wash- ington Park now is. Armed with this repeated informa- tion, the deputy sheriff made his way rapidly up to the Presbyterian graveyard, found the grave and the tomb- stone, and attaching with paste a copy of the summons on the tombstone inscription just above the engraved name of the departed defendant, he left the graveyard right for the sheriff's office, and getting there he made the following sheriff's return on the back of the original summons in his own peculiar handwriting, to-wit :
" I have served the defendant personally this time, by leaving a copy of the within summons at the last place of the known residence of the defendant.
"T. WEAVER, sheriff,
" By JOHN STALEE, deputy."
It was found out afterwards that there were two
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persons, or rather had been, of the same name, and one of them had died, and was buried and had a tombstone in the Presbyterian graveyard; but the other living person was the real defendant, and after thorough inquiry and explanation the original summons was served personally upon the proper living, not dead person, and the lawyer was not only satisfied, but happily gratified by Stalee.
OLD STALEE ONCE MORE.
Our friend Stalee was still at his post of duty at the sheriff's desk, when the new constitution of the State, in 1852, came into effect. He had survived the days of the old court house, which was burned down in the year 1849, and he survived even the life and existence of the old Court of Common Pleas, which, on the coming into effect of the new constitution, was totally annihilated and decomposed, and a new reformed Court of Common Pleas took its place. The associate judges were especially and particularly abolished, and they subsisted and existed no more, alas! for fun and jokes in our annals. But Stalee survived !
STALEE AND THE LAST DAYS OF THE OLD COMMON PLEAS.
It was on Saturday, the 9th day of February, 1852, that the old Court of Common Pleas departed this life, and the occasion was a serious, sober, solemn one, and an attentive and attractive one. Judges Warden, Moore, Saffin and Wiseman were upon the bench, and Stalee, the deputy sheriff, was there to keep silence during the last throes, trials and death struggles of the old court, which now had almost slipped into the seventh age, " Sans eyes, sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything."
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And all the officers of the court were there, and the lawyers all were there, and a very large audience of fellow citizens were there, to be in at the death, and pay their profound respects, and condole with each other on the funeral ceremonies. The last matter of business had been reached by the court, and the last matter of busi- ness had been at last executed and finished, and there sat the four expiring, corpse-like judges, all in a line on the long and high bench, and there, still erect and mindful of his duty, stood the fearless, and faithful, and famous Stalee at his desk, his official desk, beside the
" Most potent, grave and reverend seigneurs, His very noble and approved good masters,"
of whose powers and greatness this was the last day, the last hour, the last minute, and nearing, nearing the last second ! But they had to die out, and on the morrow there would be " none so poor to do them reverence."
But Stalee was not to die with the court; the new constitution did not abolish the office of sheriff. That was to be continued, and Stalee alive and well as the deputy, as a matter of course, with it. The very second of adjournment had arrived, and the presiding judge, himself with his associates, extremely loth to part with their transcendent powers, drawled out in expiring tones, "Mr. Stalee adjourn this court sine die!"
The order was instantly, and soberly and seriously obeyed, and thus Stalee concluded all things of that old Court of Common Pleas. He rapped his gavel once on the desk and exclaimed "Silence !" He rapped twice much louder, and called " Silence!" again much louder, and he rapped the gavel one more terrific third time, and cried "SILENCE !! " most terrifically, and then he bawled out with vociferous drawling, singing tones, almost
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psalm-like: "O yes ! O yes ! O yes !! Hear ye ! Hear ye !! Hear ye !! ! All persons having business before this honorable court, hear ye, this Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton county, and State of Ohio is now adjourned sine die" (giving these last words the pro- nunciation of "sign die," as was his wont, but more vociferously, and adding still more loudly and very solemnly and dolefully), "and may God have mercy upon its soul, and the souls of all those who have received justice at its hands," and for the last time he rapped his gavel upon the desk, and then vacated it and the court room. It was, of course, too late for any court to take offense at Stalee's addition to his usual routine of announcement, for then there was no court; it was empatically non est, or rather non erat, or better, fuit !
OLD STALEE AND THE INEBRIATE !
The veteran Stalee now with much age upon him, continued in the sheriff's office with the courts under the new constitution, and I, being one of the judges, had him assigned to my court room, to keep silence for me, and attend to the other appertaining duties of his office, and he continued to be as diligent and dutiful as he had ever been, and as eccentric, erratic and ever mindful as he could be.
On one occasion the serious business of the court was somewhat interrupted and disturbed by the maudlin vociferations of a man somewhat intoxicated, who stood or rather tried to stand, leaning on the balustrade of the bar. Said I, as judge: "Mister Stalee, remove that drunken man from the court room, and if he repeats the offense, put him in jail for contempt of court." No sooner said than obeyed. Stalee went at once from his
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place at the sheriff's desk to the man, took him by the shoulders and arms and pushed him before himself out of the court room, and the business of the court was resumed, and progressed as usual without further inter- ruption from maudlin drunkenness. My attention was on the business before me, but I noticed that Stalee was gone for some time, and did not return with, as I thought, his usual alacrity. But at last he did return, and took his usual place at the sheriff's desk, and I, being busy, took no further notice of the matter, and forgot all about Stalee and the drunken man whom Stalee had by my order taken out of the court room.
In the course of about five weeks after this, just be- fore the opening of the court, I was sitting on the chair of the bench, preparing to have the court opened by Stalee, who was at his place at his desk, when recol- lecting about the drunken man of some time ago, I cas- ually remarked :
"Stalee, what in the world did you do with that drunken man whom, some five weeks ago, I ordered you to put out of the court room? I just call to mind that you were gone from the court room longer than usual after my judicial order? "
Stalee-"Why, Lord, Judge, I suspect he is in jail yet."
Fudge-"In jail ! Did you put him in jail?"
Stalce-" To be sure I did. Didn't the court order me to put him in jail?"
Fudge-"No; the court did no such thing. I merely ordered you to put him out of the court room, and had no idea of putting the poor man in jail, for he was a good man, and undoubtedly was inebriated accidentally.
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