History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 55

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298

USA > Wisconsin > Richland County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 55
USA > Wisconsin > Crawford County > History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin > Part 55

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In presenting to your excellency charges of so serious and degrading a nature against the chief justice of our territory, your petitioners are aware that they ought to be sustained by the ac- companying depositions of the witnesses named, but as the majority of the witnesses are members of the court over which Judge Dunn presides, many canses operate on them to prevent their giv- ing their voluntary testimony against him. We would, therefore, most respectfully request that you cause the records of our courts to be examined and the testimony of the witnesses named to be procured, and if they should sustain the charges herewith made against Judge Dunn, that you will, in conformity to the opinion of the late attorney-general, the Hon. Felix Grundy, re- move him from office. If, however, you should not coneur in that opinion, and question your power to remove a territorial judge, for an open violation of the laws, and for drunkeness on the bench; then we would further request you to lay this petition before the Congress of the United States.

How extensively this petition was circulated and signed is unknown; neither has it trans- pired as to whether it ever reached the eye of

the President; one thing is certain, however, if the attention of the chief executive of the Na- tion was called to it, he gave it no hecd.

Although the territory of Wisconsin was cre- ated in 1836, yet Judge Dann did not hold court in Crawford county until the next year, as appears from the following entries in the court journal :

"TERRITORY OF WISCONSIN, 1 COUNTY OF CRAWFORD.

MONDAY, MAY 1, 1837.

"This being the day appointed by law for the commencement of the term of the district court of the United States for the county of Crawford, and the judge of the said district court not at- tending, the court stands adjourned until to- morro u'. THOMAS P. STREET,

Clerk."

Entries of a like tenor were made May 2 and 3, when on May 4, 1837, the entry was as follows: "4th day, May term, 1837. Thursday morn- ing, May 4, 1837. The court met; present, the Hon. Charles Dunn."

And he continued to hold court every year in Crawford county until 1848, when he was succeeded by the judge of the fifth judicial cir- cuit of the State of Wisconsin.

John II. Fonda, in 1858, says:

"I believe that I sat on the jury when the first criminal case was tried under the territorial law of Wisconsin. As no harm can be done, I will give a brief history of this case, to show how such things were then managed. Judge Dunn was presiding at that time, and Ezekiel Taintor, who summoned me, was acting sheriff. The detendent was a Dacotah Indian, charged with the erime of murdering a young man named Akins, whose father was prosecuting. From the evidence it appeared that Akins, the senior, was a trader at the head of the Missis- sippi, where he had a trading house. Young Akins attended to the trading house department, while his father, who resided in a house some distance off, furnished the goods and capital. In his intercourse with the Indians, the son had

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

seen a remarkably handsome young squaw, and taken some kind of liking for her. The squaw was the wife of a young brave. By means of numerous presents, Akins persuaded the squaw to desert her husband, and live with him in the trading house. When the Indian came for his squaw, Akins locked the doors and refused to let her go. The Indian went away, but returned the next evening about dusk, and walked into the house where Akins was sitting, and again asked for his squaw. Akins refused to let her go, and the Indian shot him dead on the spot. The father of young Akins had the Indian brought down here [Prairie du Chien] for trial.

"The case was conducted with very few for- malities; and whenever the court took a recess, the jury were locked up in a grocery, where, for the sum of seventy-five cents eich, we could have all the liquor we wanted, provided we did not waste or carry any away. Now, imbibing was quite prevalent among all classes, in that day, and if each of the jurymen drank his seventy-five cents worth in one night, the judge and counselors could not have been far behind in that respect, and some individual was heard to say, that the prisoner was the only sober man in the court room. After the jury were charged, we were locked up two days and three nights. I gener- ally got out and went home nights, but came into court in the morning; and on the third morning we brought in a verdict of 'not guilty,' and the Indian was discharged."

Charles Dunn was born December 28, 1799, at Bullet's Old Lick, Bullett Co., Ky., which is about sixteen miles from Louisville. He was the eldest of a family of five sons and four daugh- ters, and at the age of nine was sent to school at Louisville, where he remained a number of years, when he was called home and sent on a business tour to Virginia Maryland and Wash- ington. Upon his return home he read law a short time with Worden Pope, a distinguished lawyer of Louisville. He afterward proceeded to Frankfort and continued his law reading for

about two years with the eminent John Pope, then secretary of state, and who was the first law professor in the Transylvania University, at Lexington.

Mr. Dunn, in May, 1819, went to Kankakee, at that time the capital of Illinois, where he completed his studies under the direction of Na- thaniel Pope district judge of the United States. In 1820 he was admitted to the bar, Sidney Bréese being admitted at the same time. He then commenced practice at Jonesboro, Union Co., Ill. In 1821, he married Mary E. Shrader, danghter of Judge Ostro Shrader, who had been a United States judge in Missouri territory. He remained in practice at Jonesboro for several years, and then removed to Golconda, Pope Co., Ill.

For two years Mr. Dunn was engrossing clerk, during two sessions of the House of Rep- resentatives of the Illinois Legislature, and for five years its chief clerk. In 1829 he was ap- pointed by Gov. Ninian Edwards, acting com- missioner of the Illinois and Michigan canal, and with his associates on the commission, Ed. ward Roberts and Dr. Jane, surveyed and platted the first town of Chicago. The first town lots of this embryo metropolis were sold by the commissioners on behalf of the State in the lat- ter part of 1829, and the sales continued in 1830 and in 1831, during which years the survey of the canal and railway line was made and re- ported.

In the early part of 1832 Indian troubles com- menced and a requisition was made upon the State authorities of Illinois for troops to engage in service against the Indians led by Black Hawk. Three brigades responded to the call, and Mr. Dunn entered the service as captain of a company he had raised in Pope county, where he then resided. His company was assigned to the 2d regiment, which was commandel by Col. John Ewing, and attached to the first bri- gade, under Gen. Alexander Posey.

Soon after in an engagement with the Indians (what engagement is unknown) Capt. Dunn be-

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

came the victim of a blundering mistake on the part of a sentinel, by which he was severely, and at first it was thought mortally, wounded * On approaching the sentinel he was severely wounded by him in the groin, of course through the mistake of the soldier. Dunn was taken back to Fort Dixon, where he was confined by his wound until after the war was ended by the battle of Bad Ax.

As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, Capt. Dunn returned home, and in the spring of 1833 acted as assistant paymaster in paying off the first brigade. During that year he resumed the practice of his profession. In 1835 he was elected a member of the House of Representa- tives of the State Legislature, from Polk county, and was chairman of the commit- tee on the judiciary during the session. Upon the recommendation of the Illinois delegation in Congress, and the delegate of the territory of Wisconsin, George W. Jones, he was appointed by President Jackson, in the spring of 1836, chief justice of Wisconsin territory. He ar- rived at Mineral Point July 4, 1836, and was then and there sworn into office, which he held until the organization of the State judiciary. The last term of his court was held at Mineral Point, in October, 1848.

Judge Dunn was a member of the second constitutional convention of the State from La Fayette county, and was chairman of the committee on the judiciary of that body. He took a leading part in framing what afterward became and still is, the constitution of Wiscon- sin. Subsequently, he was elected State sena- tor for the district composed of the county of La Fayette. He served in that capacity during the sessions of that body in 1852 and 1853, and was chairman of the committee on the judiciary during both of those years.

On the expiration of his term of office as chief justice, Judge Dunn engaged in the prae-

tice of the law in La Fayette and adjoining counties. He was regarded one of the most eminent among those who were or had been in the profession, in Wisconsin. While chief justice, his judicial studies were especially onerons, as, during the greater portion of the time he was on the bench, his distriet, as eireuit judge, was the most populous and important in the territory, and produced, it is believed, the greatest amount of litigation. His judicial and official duties were performed with rare ability, fidelity and integrity; and, although he had a few enemies (who has not?), he always com- manded during his residence of thirty-five years in Wisconsin, both in public and private life, the confindence and esteem of a very large pro- portion of the people. To near the time of his death, in 1972, at the advanced age of seventy- two, he continned in the vigorous practice of his profession at Belmont, and was, at that time, the oldest lawyer in the State.

Mr. William Hull says of him: "As a lawyer, Judge Dunn ranked as one of the best. As a judge, he was as honest and impartial as a man of his temperament could possibly be. A good pleader himself, he held us all to the strict tech- niealities of the common law practice, which then prevailed, and, although at times prone to give way to the violence of his personal feel- ings, he was generally liked and respected by the members of the bar in his district and ter- ritory. He could never forget his dignity on the bench; on the road traveling from court to conrt; at the stopping-places for the night; and during the sessions of the courts; he was, with his friends, at all times courteous and a gentle- man; to those whom he did not like, he could and did occasionally preserve a different course. This trait in the judge's character can only be accounted for by premising that, like all other descendants from the first families of Virginia, the Dunns claimed to have the royal blood of Powhatan flowing in their veins, through his daughter, the historical, abused Pochahontas.

* It has found its way into print that this accident hap- pened in what is now the town of Dunn, hence the name, but this is an error .- ED.

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

"In all places and at all times Judge Dunn never put off his dignity. One instance of this ruling trait will bear to relate. Game of all kinds was very plentiful in those early days and deer-hunting was a common pastime. Af- ter the fall terms of the courts had terminated, on one occasion the judge, his brother Frank, a henchman of Frank's, Abe. Fields, a gentleman now prominent in an adjoining State, and Mr. Hull, of La Crosse, were in camp on the Kicka- poo river, near Wayne's mill. The judge, for some cause, did not, as had been observed, take much interest in the unnamed gentleman. The second day of the hunt, the judge, a true sports- man, had killed a magnificent buck, and it had been brought into camp. The deer was hung up for dressing. Judge Dunn, with coat off, sleeves rolled up and knife in hand, had com- menced work. After a few cuts with the knife had been made, the gentleman wishing to make some remark to the judge, spoke loudly- 'Dann!' As quick a flash Judge Dunn stopped his work, turned facing the gentleman, and with piercing black eyes flashing lightning, re- sponded,-'Judge Dunn, if you please, sir!' After this explosion there was silence in the camp for awhile."

STATE CIRCUIT COURT.

The constitution of the State of Wisconsin vested the judicial power of the State in a su- preme court, circuit court, courts of probate and in justices of the peace. The State was divided into five judicial circuits. The fifth circuit was composed of the counties of Crawford, Iowa, La Fayette, Grant and St. Croix, as organized in 1848; the county of Richland being attached to Towa county, Chippewa to Crawford, and La Point to St. Croix, for judicial purposes. By an act of the State Legislature, of 1850, a sixth judicial circuit was formed. In this circuit was included among others the county of Crawford. In 1861 this circuit was made to include the counties of Crawford, Bad Ax, LaCrosse, Mon- roe and Jackson.

In 1864 Crawford and Richland counties were, by the following act, made a part of the fifth judicial circuit of the State :

[Published April 18, 1864.]

An Act to detach the counties of Richland and Crawford from the sixth judicial circuit, and to attach said counties to the fifth judicial circuit.

The People of the State of Wisconsin, repre- sented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as fol- lows :

SECTION 1. The counties of Richland and Crawford, in the State of Wisconsin, are hereby detached from the sixth judicial circuit, and the same are hereby attached to, and shall hereafter constitute a part of the fifth judicial circuit, in said State of Wisconsin.

SEC. 2. This act shall take effect on the first day of January, A. D. 1865, and be in force from and after that time. Approved March, 3], 1864.

Crawford county still remains in the fifth judicial circuit of the State.

CIRCUIT JUDGES.

At the first judicial election, Mortimer M. Jackson was chosen judge of the fifth judicial circuit, which, as we have seen, included, in 1848, along with other counties, that of Craw- ford. The first term of the court began in Prairie du Chien, Nov. 13, 1848.

The following are. the judges who have dis- pensed justice upon the Crawford county bench, since Wisconsin became a State :

M. M. Jackson, 1848-1850.

Wiram Knowlton, 1850-1856.

George Gale, 1857-1862.

Edwin Flint, 1863-1864.

J. T. Mills, 1865-1876.

M. M. Cothren, 1877-1882.

George Clementson, 1883-(still in offiec).

The June'term, 1861, of the court was held by Judge I. E. Messmore. He had been ap- pointed by the governor as judge upon a change in Judge Gale's district ; but the supreme court decided the law changing the district unconstitu- tional, and Messmore was ousted from office.

Mortimer M. Jackson, the subject of this , sketch was born in Rensselaerville, Albany

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Co., N. Y. He studied law in the city of New York, and came to Wisconsin in 1838. He was afterward attorney general of the terri- tory. On the organization of the State gov- ernment in 1848, he was elected, as already stated, judge of the fifth judicial circuit, by virtue of which he was also a member of the supreme court. On the expiration of the term of Judge Stow as chief justice, Judge Jackson, was chosen by his colleagues chief justice, but declined to serve. In 1861 he was appointed United States consul at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and in 1880 was promoted to con- sul general of the United States for the British maritime provinces, in which capacity he acted until 1882, with residence at Halifax. He then returned to Wisconsin.

Wiram Knowlton was born in Chenango Co., N. Y., January 24, 1816. He was brother of James II. Knowlton, one of Wisconsin's eminent lawyers. In May, 1837, he came with his father's family to Wisconsin, locating at Janesville. Commencing the study of the law, he subsequently completed it with Parley Eaton, at Mineral Point. He was afterward admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession at Plattville.

In 1840, Mr. Knowlton settled in Prairie du Chien and practiced law for some five years. When the Mexican war broke ont he raised a company of volunteers in Crawford county, and was captain of the company. Ilis company, however, did not go to Mexico, but were as- signed to detached service on the frontier with headquarters at Fort Crawford. After the war closed he resumed the practice of law, and in 1850 he was elected judge of the sixth judicial circuit embracing among other counties, that of Crawford. During three years of this time,he was ex-officio justice of the supreme court. He served six years as judge of sixth circuit. Ile remained in Prairie du Chien until about 1864, then removed to the north part of the State, where he died in June, 1873. He was a man of very fine ability.

George Gale was a native of Burlington, Ver- mont. Ile was the youngest son of Peter and Hannah Tottingham Gale, and was born on the 30th of November, 1816. He had the advantage of a good common school education. In March, 1839, he commenced reading law. In 1840, he was appointed postmaster at Waterbury Center, Vt. He was admitted to the bar in 1841; emi- grated west, and settled in Elkhorn, Wal- worth county, Wisconsin. Here he opened an office, and entered into a successful practice of his profession.

Mr. Gale, besides holding several town offices, was, in the autumn of 1847, elected a member of the convention to form a State constitution, serving in that body on the judiciary committee. He was elected, the same fall, district attorney and a year after a member of the State senate. On the 4th of July. 1851, the subject of this sketch received from Gov. Dewey the appoint- ment of brigadier general of militia. In the fall of that year, he removed to the upper Mis- sissippi, locating at La Crosse. He was soon elected county judge for a term of four years, for the counties of La Crosse and Chippewa. Ile resigned his office Jan. 1, 1854, and in April, 1856, was elected judge of the sixth judi- cial circuit, his term of office commencing Jan. 1, 1857, and continuing six years. He served the whole term, and discharged the duties of his office with ability. During 1857, he re- moved from La Crosse to Galesville, Trempea- lean county.

Mr. Gale's health partially failed in the summer of 1862, and he spent the three following win- ters in the south and east, most of the time in the service of the sanitary and christian com- missions. During February and March, 1863, he had charge of the United States sanitary commission depot on Morris island, South Caro- lina. He died in Galesville, Wisconsin, on the 18th of April, 1868, in the fifty-second year of his age.

Judge Gale, however, is best known to the State as a friend of education. Seeing that all

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

northwestern Wisconsin was without college advantages, he first urged upon the people of La Crosse to take the inititaory steps toward founding an institution near that village. Fail- ing in this, he decided to remove to the Trem- pealeau valley, start a village and found a col- lege. Accordingly, in 1853, he purchased a large tract of land, where Galesville now stands, and in 1854, secured from the Legislature of the State the organization of Trempelean county, and the location of the county seat on his land. He also obtained a charter for a uni- versity for the same location. The board of trustees was organized in 1855, and the college building commenced in 1858. The preparatory department was opened in 1859, and the colle- giate in 1861. In1865, Mr. Gale resigned the presidency of the college. Ile was a graduate of no college, but from his great interest in edu- cation, he was made master of arts by the Ver- mont university, in 1857, and doctor of laws by the Galesville university, in 1863.

Ilis contributions to literature have been con- siderable and valuable. In August, 1845, he started the Western Star, the first newspaper in Walworth county, Wisconsin. In 1843, he is- sued the first edition of the Wisconsin Form Book. 1864, he contributed to the historical society of the State a valuable paper on the his- tory of the Winnebago Indians. In 1866, he published the Gale family genealogy. In 1867, his history of the upper Mississippi was pub- lished, embracing a history of the northwest from A. D. 1600 to the present time. Ilis wri- tings all show close investigation, vigorous re- search, and a clear delineation of historical facts.

Edwin Flint settled in Mason City, Iowa, in 1869, where he now resides, and where he entered into a partnership with B. F. Hartshorn, forming the law firm of Hartshorn & Flint. He was born in Braintree, Orange Co., Vt., May 25, 1814. He is the son of Phineas and Abigail Weld Flint, of Vermont, who were the parents of seven children. His father was a farmer and died in

1826. His mother died in Mason City, in 1874. Mr. Flint remained on his father's farm until he was thirteen years old, and the following year he went to Windsor, where he passed a year in the office of of the Vermont Chronicle. He went thence to Burlington, where he was employed by Chauncey Goodrich, a book pub- lisher of that city. Ile there prepared for col- lege, paying his way in the printing office. He was matriculated at the Vermont University, at Burlington, in 1833, and graduated in 1836. Soon after that event, he went south and became a teacher in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. In 1840 Mr. Flint was admitted to the bar at LaFayette, Ind .; and, after a brief time went to Jackson, Mich., where he began the practice of his profession, remaining there until 1841, when he became impaired in health and returned south. In 1848, he went to Fond du Lac, Wis., and entered fully into the practice of the law. In 1851 he moved to La Crosse, and the next year was elected district attorney, and in the same year, chairman of the board of supervisors. In 1861 he was chosen to the State senate from the La Crosse district. The next year, 1862, he was elected judge of the sixth judicial cirenit of Wisconsin, which position he filled with credit for six years; but as Crawford was detached from that district in 1864, he only presided in this county two years. In 1876 he retired from the practice of the law.

Joseph T. Mills was born in Crane Ridge, Bourbon Co., Ky., Dec. 18, 1812. He received an academic education, studied law, was ad- mitted to the bar, came to the west and located in Bond Co., Ills., in 1831. In 1843 he removed to Wisconsin, and permanently settled in Lan- caster, Grant county, where he entered upon the practice of the law. He was elected circuit judge of the fifth judicial circuit, and served from 1865 to 1875. He was a member of the assembly in 1856, 1857, 1862 and 1879.

Montgomery M. Cothren was born at Jerusa- lem, Yates Co., N. Y., Sept. 18, 1819. Ilis father was Nathaniel Cothren, and his mother

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HISTORY OF CRAWFORD COUNTY.

Clarinda Weed. Mr. Cothren was educated in New York, and subsequently studied law at Kalamazoo, Mich. Having removed to Mineral Point, he was admitted to the bar of the United States district court in 1843, by Judge Charles Dunn, since which time he has been in active practice of his profession or upon the bench. Ile was a member of the last territorial Legis- lature of Wisconsin, and served in the State sen- ate in 1849 and 1850. In the presidential elec- tion of 1852, he was one of the electors for the State at large, and cast his vote for Franklin Pierce and William R. King. During the same year he was elected judge of the fifth judicial circuit, and served in that capacity twelve years. At the close of his second term as circuit judge, he declined a re-election, and for the twelve years ensuing, engaged in the practice of the law; but, in 1876, he was again chosen judge this time, of the fifth judicial circuit, which now included within its limits, Crawford county. Ile served one full term. In 1879 Judge Cothren was nominated for associate justice of the supreme court by a caucus of the Demo- cratic members of the Legislature, but the nomination was not confirmed at the polls. In the campaign of 1880, he was the Democratic candidate for member of Congress in the third district, but was defeated by George C. Hazel- ton. The bar of sonthern Wisconsin has been, and now is graced with many lawyers of com- manding ability; second to none in this list is the name of Montgomery M. Cothren.

George Clementson, a native of England, was born March 13, 1842. llis parents came to this country in 1849; they came west to Wisconsin the same year, and located in Grant county. Here the boy grew to manhood, receiving his education in this State. He read law here and completed his law studies at the State University of Michigan. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1868. After his admission, he engaged in the practice of law. In November, 1869, he associated with lIon. Allen Barber, of the firm of Barber & Clem-

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History of Crawford and Richland counties, Wisconsin, Part 55

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog] Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company Number of Pages: 1298

Author: Butterfield, Consul Willshire, 1824-1899. [from old catalog]; Union publishing company, Springfield, Ill., pub. [from old catalog]
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield, Ill., Union publishing company
Number of Pages: 1298