USA > Wisconsin > Grant County > History of Grant County Wisconsin, including its civil, political, geological, mineralogical archaeological and military history > Part 17
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Hon. J. W. Seaton, a long-time member of the Grant County bar, contributed to the Teller of January 26 and February 2, 1899, the fol- lowing racy sketches of the bench and bar of the county:
"An incident has been related to me as taking place in Judge Dunn's court. The date of occurrence I am unable to give, but, it was during the early fifties.
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"It was the custom as well as the duty of the presiding Judge, on assembling of the grand jury to charge it specifically to bring in in- dictments against every person guilty of any infraction of the laws, coming within their knowledge, and especially against those breaking the gambling laws, which were pointed and severe in their penal pro- visions, although they were never enforced or repealed and stand brist- ling upon our statute books to the present day, pointed and sharp as ever; but they never cut or thrust these soft-handed ingenuous violat- ers of law. Few of the class of the early and noted gambling sharps now remain, most of them having 'passed in their chips' and with- drawn from the table, leaving their innocent and trusting dupes to to seek other amusements.
"At the term of the court to which I refer Major John R. Coons, of Potosi, was foreman of the grand jury and received this special charge from Judge Dunn, then sitting upon the bench. Accordingly he made an ample investigation and returned all persons coming to his knowledge engaged in gambling-whether faro, seven-up, keno, chuck- a-luck or euchre. The first name upon the list was his own, then fol- lowed that of Judge Dunn, every member of the bar, most of the jurors, witnesses, litigants, officers of the court and county, and in fact, the whole posse comitatus of the county and adjoining territory.
"The Court received the report, and on reading it, quietly smiled and thus addressed the compliant foreman :
" 'Major Coons, I see you have carefully and fully complied with my instructions, but in so doing I think you have invaded the privi- lege of the court, which custom and the law wisely provides shall not be included in its own charges. It is a principle of law old as the books of Moses, that the King can do no wrong; neither can a judge wearing the ermine. Gentlemen, you will please return to your room and make this correction-leave out the Court in your indictments.'
"The Judge probably never was addicted to any great extent in gambling but, with his friends, would occasionally play a game for amusement or recreation. The legal fraternity and most others, at- tending court in territorial days and even for years after, were more or less in the habit of playing games of chance. The regular sports and gamblers in those days, and there were many, attended court for the avowed purpose of fleecing the unwary and unskillful players out of their money, of which the miners afforded them plenty. Neither were the professional lawyers and court officials, who thought themselves
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skilled in the ways and tricks of the blind goddess, exempt from her wiles and fascinations and often got caught in their own trap. Tip- pling and gambling were universally practiced among the miners and unregenerate settlers. It was a custom and passion among them, and no man was thought less of because he indulged in a drink or game. There was no turpitude attached to the sporting fraternity and not much to the drinking class, because everybody else drank and sported.
"Judge Charles Dunn was a native of Kentucky and received his first appointment in 1836, from Andrew Jackson, President, and was the first chief justice of the territory; David Irwin and William Frazer were assistant justices and constituted the Supreme Court, holdingits sittings in various parts of the territory. They were all able, learned men and Judge Dunn not the least. He was accustomed to holding courts in the western part of the State, his home being at or near Dodgeville. No worthier or more honored man has ever occupied the bench and his rulings and judgments are still referred to with great respect.
"The members comprising the Bar at this time, and those practic- ing in Grant County, as I now remember them, were, Frank J. Dunn, the Judge's brother; Sam Crawford, who became judge of the Supreme Court; Moses M. Strong, one of the framers of the State Constitution, and a man of great learning and native ability ; Mortimer M. Jackson, who succeeded Judge Dunn on the bench in the Fifth Circuit and became afterwards consul at Kingston, Canada; Montgomery M. Cothren, who also became an incumbent on the bench in the Fifth Circuit-one of the clearest legal minds that ever expounded the laws of our State-and James H. Knowlton. These men were residents of Mineral Point, but were known and recognized as able lawyers throughout the State, especially the western part of it.
"The only lawyers now called to memory as living in the south part of the county, were Hon. H. D. York, still a member of the Bar, a most refined and genial gentleman, who devotes much attention to the settlement of estates in the probate court, and N. Hemmiup, of Hazel Green. The last mentioned gentlemen removed to Minnesota on the organization of that territory and disappeared from my knowledge.
"The three principal points where the legal fraternity mostly gath- ered were Platteville, Potosi, and Lancaster, the county seat. The two
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former were mining villages and were fruitful of much litigation, both civil and criminal, which, for the most part, was settled by juries be- fore justices of the peace. All this has been changed in the last two decades and we seldom hear of a jury trial in justice's court. It is us- ually settled at once by the justice or taken to Lancaster before the circuit court for final adjudication. Cases rarely go beyond this now, though some few, where the lawyers are opinionated and ambitious of distinction, are appealed to the Supreme Court. But, woe to the litigants in these cases! It takes long, well-filled purses to sustain them at any great length of time. They remind me of the great suit of Peter Peables vs. Plainstanes given by Sir Walter Scott in Red Gauntlet, one of his celebrated romances; grinding both parties to shame, poverty, degradation and drink. The writer could instance several of the kind occurring in this circuit, in early times, where the litigants spent all their money, incumbered their farms and reduced themselves and families to the brink of destitution and mendicancy, all through the stubborn willfulness and love of law and litigation. But such suits have passed away with the generation that begot and encouraged them. Names of parties might be given, but they are sup- pressed out of respect for the feelings of their descendants who have survived the disgrace and impoverishment which they entailed. Among the noted lawyers of this date I find the names of George W. Lakin, Ben C. Eastman, Stephen O. Paine. Willis H. Chapman, Tom Robinson, who was not so early as the others, and perhaps one or two others who have escaped my memory, at Platteville. S. O. Paine was a rough-and-tumble lawyer-quite popular in his day. He suc- ceeded Judge C. K. Lord in the county judgeship. He was an upright, conscientious, considerate judge, but rather profane, on occasion, in administering oaths to witnesses. I remember on one occasion his using this formula : 'You do solemnly swear the evidence you shall give in this action between John Doe and the estate of James Roe, de- ceased, shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So help you, G-d d-n you.' It was an obliquity of language that was sometimes manifest in the old-time courts and placed the judge on an equality with the witness, who often used the same familiar language.
" Ben C. Eastman was the most eminent and well-known lawyer in Platteville of his day. His counsel and advice were sought far and near, and his practice was becoming quite lucrative when he went into
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politics and was elected to Congress over Judge Cole. He was a man of pleasant address and of impressive manners, and his pleas to the jury were always attentively received. His tall, well-built form and and gentlemanly bearing distinguished him as a man of culture and good breeding in any crowd.
"On one occrsion, however, he made a marked mistake in his com- pany. He was taking dinner at the Banfill Hotel, the most popular hotel in the county. As a matter of courtesy he was placed at the head of the table where the roast beef stood and the carving knife was laid. Ranging down the long table came other well-known guests of marked consequence, till it tailed out near the dining-room door where the 'hungry crowd' were seated which usually rushed in pell mell to get any place they could. There were great gormands in those days as well as giants, but 'Old Ban' spread a good table and Mrs. Banfill and her pretty daughters knew how to cook and cater to their tastes, and the latter were attractions for young men and lawyers.
"On this particular day it so happened that Sam Morris, from Cassville, a noted character unknown to Ben, came in as his right- hand bower and took a seat near him. Ben was fresh from the East and unused to waiting on the table and unacquainted with the cus- toms of the West. Sam, with a patient eye and watery mouth, watched the tall, well-dressed Yankee cut off a liberal slice of the juicy beef and place it upon his own plate and then quietly lay the fork and knife down. This was manners that Morris had not yet learned in the 'woolly West,' and he quickly resented it, thrust his empty plate forward, sententiously saying: 'See here, young man, if you don't want all that beef for your own use I would thank you for a slice.' Ben sniffed trouble in case of refusal and knuckled to the demand. He cut the meat and passed the potatoes to every man within reach of his long arms. Ever after this introduction Ben C. Eastman and Sam Morris were fast friends-slept together in the same room-played cards at the same round table and mutually admired each other's keen wit and wonderful story gifts, which were not unfrequently bandied till long past midnight. Both are now where the 'wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest,' and most of those who listened to their quaint, pungent, laughable stories.
"At this date, Potosi was the nucleus of four lawyers-Judge C. K. Lord, William Hull, usually called ' Billie' Hull, and the firm of Cole
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& Biddlecome. J. W. Seaton, a young man from New York, was amusing himself over Blackstone and reading Charles Dickens's treatise on ' Barnaby Rudge' in Cole & Biddlecome's office. He never rose to distinction in the profession, neither will any young man who mixes literature with law and politics.
"Cyrus K. Lord, in 1850, became judge in the Probate Court, suc- ceeding the venerable Hugh R. Colter, who held the position in terri- torial days and was accustomed to visit the widows and orphans to settle up the estate immediately after the death of the departed. He held a sort of itinerant court. Everybody knew when a death oc- curred in the neighborhood Judge Colter would soon be around. He appeared to be an intelligent, kind-hearted man; was lame from some cause and hobbled around on a crutch and cane. He was the fourth probate judge in the county, John H. Rountree being the first.
"One of the best known lawyers of his time was William Hull. He was a Southerner, coming from New Orleans, lazy, impecunious and high-toned in feeling. He was a first-class jury-trial lawyer in a justice's court-full of resources, ready wit and prepared to take advan- tage of technicalities and errors; make black white in the most reason- able and plausible way. He rose rapidly from his low estate and de- scended again with accelerated speed. In 1851 he was elected District Attorney of the county, holding one term, promoted to the legislature in 1854 and became Speaker of the Assembly of 1854, during the Reform administration of Coles Bashford, when the railroad land subsidy was divided among the incorruptible (?) lawmakers. Hull was said to have received $20,000 in scrip upon which he realized about fifty per cent. in current funds. After making way with this in high-toned liv- ing at Madison, he removed to LaCrosse, where he again entered the law practice with variable success, dying a poor man. He never re- turned to Potosi. He was a man of remarkable gifts, possessed of bright, quick intellect, a reasonable amount of learning; was off-hand and happy, and often eloquent in public speech; and with better habits and principles might have been a useful man. But he is gone and we will not cast a shadow over his grass-grown grave.
"Cole and Biddlecome were men of high-grade principle and wider practice. Hon. Orsamus Cole, as most are aware, rose to the highest distinction of his profession-that of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State. He was first chosen as a member of the second constitutional convention, afterwards sent to Congress during the 12
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administration of Zachary Taylor-'Old Rough and Ready'-and finally chosen Supreme Court Judge, which position he held for nearly a third of a century, growing gray and venerable in its arduous duties. He was a college graduate and classical scholar; studious in habits, of a retentive mind, which he stored with useful knowledge as well as law; conscientious and upright in the discharge of his onerous duties. In his younger days, he was fond of anecdotes and never failed to tell a good one himself when in the laughter-loving mood and surrounded by congenial spirits.
"Like the eminent Garfield and Lincoln :
'His life in low estate began And on a simple green- A man he was, Who makes by force his merits known And lives to touch the golden keys That mould a mighty state's decrees And speak the whisper of a throne.'
"Having faithfully and fearlessly performed the high task set before him, he now enjoys his honors and emoluments of his labor in the retirement of private life-respected and cared for in his age and infirmities by his only son, Sidney Cole, of Milwaukee.
"William Rosselle Biddlecome, his law partner, was a man of different mould and character, though less honored not less meritor- ious. He was regarded as a young lawyer of great promise by all who knew him. Eastern born and educated (a native of New York), he had spent several years in Virginia teaching among the . F. F. V's.' While there engaged in teaching, he gained the affection of a young lady whom he afterward married and brought north. They spent several years in Potosi, afterward removing to St. Louis, where he engaged in marine law practice, dying in early life just as he was entering upon a successful and brilliant career. While residing in Wisconsin he served one term in the lower house of the legislature and showed marked ability; was chosen District Attorney of Grant County and served one term; afterward was nominated on the Demo- cratic ticket for District Attorney, but failed of an election.
"Undoubtedly he was endowed with the finest intellect and rarest qualifications for professional success of any young man who entered the territory in an early day. Unfortunately, however, for his young ambition, he was connected with a political party whose sun was going down and that of the Republican party rising above the
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horizon. It was in the days of the 'Glover Rescue' when the noted S. M. Booth was repining in jail for resisting the Fugitive Slave Law. State's-right laws were then rampant in Wisconsin and defeat to every man opposed to equal rights and free soil was inevitable and certain. So Democracy, at this early day, went under the war-cloud, then rising in the South, which heralded the great storm that later was to drench the land in 'fraternal blood' and drive slavery and its votaries forever from our country. Temple and tower went down, nor left a site where once lived, ruled, and reveled the arrogant, unscrupulous, and dominating slavocracy."
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CHAPTER III.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
Organization of the Parties_Fall of the Whig and Rise of Republican Party-County Funds Lost __ Election Statistics-George C. Hazelton.
ORGANIZATION OF THE PARTIES.
During the territorial times, the people of the Territory, having no voice in the election of President and Members of Congress, had only a sympathetic interest in national politics, and in voting on their local affairs and for local officers seldom drew party lines. In Grant County candidates for county offices announced themselves, or were "brought out by their friends," irrespective of their political beliefs. The "Liberty" party, or abolitionists, however, organized as early as 1845 and put up a county ticket, which received eighteen votes, just the number of names on the ticket.
About 1844 an effort was made to organize the "Native Amer- ican" party in the county. S. O. Paine, J. E. Dodge, James P. Cox, and D. R. Burt, all able and influential men, were prominent in the agitation, which, although it created much angry discussion, had no permanent result.
As the time for admission of Wisconsin as a State approached, interest in national politics sprang up and the two great parties of the time: the Whig and the Democratic parties, formed their first organization in the county.
On the 7th of August, 1847, the Whig county convention met at Lancaster and nominated the following ticket: Treasurer, James M. Otis, of Lancaster; Register, Morris W. Martin, of Platteville; County Commissioners, James P. Cox, of Boice Prairie, Henry Webster, of Beetown, Samuel Virden, of Hazel Green; Assessors, Robert Young of Hazel Green, Isaac Martin, of Big Platte, and Hiram Brunson, of Patch Grove; Clerk of Board, Enos P. Wood, of Lancaster; Coroner, Andrew J. Greene, of Potosi; County Surveyor, George R. Stuntz, of Lancaster. D. R. Burt and N. H. Virgin were nominated for the legis- lature. John H. Rountree was chairman of the convention.
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The Democratic county convention met at Lancaster, August 14, 1847, and nominated the following county ticket: County Commis- sioners, Ben C. Eastman, of Platteville, Albert W. Emery, of Pleasant Valley, and Horace Catlin, of Beetown; Treasurer, Arthur W. Worth, of Lancaster; Register, Neville H. Suttle, of Hazel Green; Clerk of Board, James McCormick, of Potosi; Assessors, Nehemiah H. Bon- ham, of Hurricane, Wm. Bryant, of Patch Grove, Oliver Rice, of Fair- play. Nelson Dewey and Joel C. Squires were nominated for the legis- lature. Dr. Joel Angell, of Potosi, presided.
The entire Whig ticket was elected except Virden, who was de- feated by a few votes.
In the spring of 1848 there was an election for Governor of the State and members of the legislature. Again party lines were drawn and again the Whigs carried the county by a small majority. A table of this vote will be found on page 166.
In the fall of 1848 there was a presidential election, and election of county officers. Zachary Taylor, Whig, carried the county by a plurality of 501 over Lewis Cass, but four of the Whig candidates for county offices were beaten : J. Allen Barber, for District Attorney, by W. R. Biddlecome; T. J. Taylor, for Sheriff, by Matt Woods, and A. A. Parker, by J. C. Squires for County Clerk. Parker was at first de- clared elected, but an error of ten in copying the number of votes in Patch Grove being corrected, it was found that Squires had three ma- jority. J. M. Goodhue was beaten for Probate Judge by Hugh R. Colter.
FALL OF THE WHIG AND RISE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
In 1850 the Democrats carried the county by a small majority. In the presidential election of 1852 the Democrats again carried the county, the vote for President being: Pierce, 1,379; Scott, 1,341; Hale (Abolition), 129. After the defeat of General Scott the breaking up of the Whig party was rapid. The anti-slavery men in Grant County, old Whigs, Democrats, and Free-soilers, went into the new Republican party, which from the first found a stronghold in this county, and in 1854 the Republican county ticket was elected, and the party carried the county at every succeeding election for many years. The enthusiasm for the Union during war times and for several years afterward greatly added to the strength of the Republican party.
In 1873 the Republican party received its first defeat in the county since its organization. Many causes contributed to the politi-
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cal revolution. There was intense dissatisfaction with the corruptions of Congress, in which the Republicans had a large majority. The "Salary Grab" and "Credit Mobilier," were specimens. Theextremely hard times caused by a contraction of the currency added to the dissatisfaction with the dominant party. Legislation to control rail- road corporations was desired by the farmers, and seemed to be opposed by many of the professional classes belonging to the Republi- can party, and the powerful order of the Grange was turned against the party. In the election of 1873 the Democratic candidate for Governor, Wm. R. Taylor, almost wiped out the tremendous majority which C. C. Washburn had received two years before in the county, and three of the four Democratic candidates for Assemblymen were elected. But a reaction came the next year. In 1877 the Greenback party, which had been organized in 1876, polled a large vote for Gov- ernor in the county, but in 1878 it fused with the Democratic party and shared in the customary defeats of that party. A few towns in the county (notably Potosi, Cassville, and Muscoda) have remained permanently Democratic, and when Potosi and Cassville, with their large Democratic majorities, have been placed in the same assembly district, a Democratic Assemblyman has several times been elected, as William J. McCoy in 1877, 1882, and 1884.
COUNTY FUNDS LOST.
A bit of county history which, not being political in itself, belongs in the political division only because a strong but ineffectual attempt to make political capital out of it was made, was the loss of money belonging to the county by Treasurer McMahon. The Treasurer had placed a large part of the county funds in the bank of Isaac Hodges, in Platteville. The bank failed in 1884. In 1885 a resolution was adopted by the County Board to receive the Treasurer's vouchers of deposit (amounting to $5,552.45) at half their face value, although it was known that probably the bank would not pay ten per cent. of its liabilities. The matter was hotly debated in the session of 1886, and again at the session of 1887, when by a vote of 25 to 15 it was resolved to accept the vouchers at their full value and entirely relieve the Treasurer of the loss. The opponents of this measureclaimed that the Treasurer had placed the money in the bank to profit by the inter- est received, and that he should accept the losses as well as the profits of his unauthorized transaction. The Treasurer and his friends claimed that he did not place the money in the bank for the purpose
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of getting interest, and he had never received any interest on it; that he put it in the bank because the county had furnished no safe place in which to keep it, and therefore the county should stand the loss.
ELECTION STATISTICS.
The vote of Grant County for Governor from 1848 to 1898 is as follows:
1848-Nelson Dewey, Democrat, 1,199; Tweedy, Whig, 1,467.
1849-Nelson Dewey, Democrat, 1,030; Alexander L. Collins, Whig, 1,103; Warren Chase, Free Soil, 16.
1851-L. J. Farwell, Whig, 1,206; A. J. Upham, Democrat, 985.
1853-E. D. Holton, Abolition, 1,206; Wm. A. Barstow, Demo- crat, 988; Henry S Baird, Whig, 195.
1855-Coles Bashford, Republican, 1,581; Wm. A. Barstow, Demo- crat, 1,145.
1857 .- Alexander W. Randall, Republican, 1,681; James B. Cross. Democrat, 1,260.
1859 .- Alex. W. Randall, Republican, 2,496; H. C. Hobart, Demo- crat, 1,715.
1861 .- Lewis P. Harvey, Republican, 2,907; Benj. Furgeson, Dem- ocrat, 741.
1863 .- James T. Lewis, Republican, 2,404; Henry S. Palmer, Dem- ocrat, 1,313.
1865 .- Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 2,577; H. C. Hobart, Demo- crat, 1,131.
1867 .- Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 3,093; J. J. Tallmadge, Dem- ocrat, 1,649.
1869 .- Lucius Fairchild, Republican, 3,404; Charles D. Robinson, Democrat, 1,476.
1871 .- C. C. Washburn, Republican, 3,154; James R. Doolittle, Democrat, 1,971.
1873 .- C. C. Washburn, Republican, 2,405; Wm. R. Taylor, Dem- ocrat, 2,104.
1875 .- Harrison Ludington, Republican, 3,182; Wm. R. Taylor, Democrat, 2,318.
1877-Wm. E. Smith, Republican, 2,630; James Mallory, Demo- crat, 1,938; Edward P. Allis, Greenback, 1,037.
1879 .- Wm. E. Smith, Republican, 3,111 ; James G. Jenkins, Demo- crat, 1,703, Reuben May, Greenback, 625.
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