USA > Wisconsin > Green County > History of Green County, Wisconsin. Together with sketches of its towns and villages, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 48
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CIRCUIT COURT OF GREEN COUNTY.
The constitution of the State of Wisconsin vested the judicial power of the State in a Su- preme Court, circuit courts, courts of probate and in justices of the peace. Circuit courts were to have general original jurisdiction in all matters civil and criminal, not exclusively cognizable by a justice of the peace or some other inferior court. They were to have all the powers according to the usages of courts of law and equity necessary to the full and complete jurisdiction of the causes and parties, and the full and complete administration of justice. Their acts and proceedings were made subject to a re-examination by the Supreme Court, as provided by law.
The constitution divided the State into five judicial circuits, and provided for the election of a judge in each. The first circuit comprised the counties of Racine, Walworth, Rock and Green; the second circuit, the counties of Mil- waukee, Waukesha, Jefferson and Dane; the third circuit, the counties of Washington, Dodge, Columbia, Marquette, Sauk and Portage; the fourth circuit, the counties of Brown, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Fond du Lac, Winnebago and Calu- met; and the fifth eircuit, the counties of Iowa,
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
Lafayette, Grant, Crawford and St. Croix; the county of Richland being attached to Iowa county, Chippewa to Crawford, and LaPointe to St. Croix, for judicial purposes.
The first election for circuit judges was held in Wisconsin on the first Monday of August, 1848. At this election the judge elected for the first judicial circuit (which, as we have just seen, included Green county) was Edward V. Whiton. Green county continued in the first judicial circuit until Jan. 1, 1871, when, by an act of the legislature of 1870, Green, Rock and Jefferson counties were erected into the twelfth judicial circuit; and in that circuit it still (1884) remains. The act spoken of was as follows:
"An Act to constitute and re-organize the twelfth judicial circuit; to change the limits of the first and ninth judicial circuits; and to change the time for holding the terms of the circuit court for the county of Jefferson.
The people of the State of Wisconsin, repre- sented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as fol- lows:
"SECTION 1. The counties of Rock and Green are hereby detached from the first judicial cir- cuit, and the county of Jefferson from the ninth judicial circuit, and said counties of Rock, Green and Jefferson shall constitute a judicial circuit, which shall be known and designated as the twelfth judicial circuit.
"SECTION 2. The terms of the circuit court in said counties of Rock and Jefferson shall be held at the time now provided by law for hold- ing the same, and the terms of said court for said county of Green shall commence in each year on the fourth Monday of February, the fourth Monday of September and the sec- ond Monday of July.
"SECTION 3. No jury shall be summoned for either of the terms of the circuit court to be held in the months of June, July and August, but said court shall have power at such terms to transact any business or do any act which may be lawfully transacted or done at a general
term of the circuit court, without the interven- tion of jury.
"SECTION 4. An election for judge of said twelfth judicial circuit, for the term of six years, shall be held in the several towns and wards therein, on the first Tuesday in April next, which election shall be conducted, and the votes given thereat shall be canvassed and re- turned in all respects in accordance with exist- ing laws providing for the election of circuit judges, and the term of office of the person who shall be chosen judge of said circuit at such election, shall commence on the first day of January, A. D. 1871. No notice of such elec- tion is required, and the same shall not be held invalid for want of any notice thereof.
"SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on the first day of April next, but the several counties composing the said twelfth judicial circuit shall for the judicial purposes, remain a part of the several judicial circuits to which they have been heretofore attached until the end of the thirty- first day of December next.
"SECTION 6. All acts or parts of acts contra- vening the provisions of this act are hereby re- pealed.
"Approved March 16, 1870."
Judge Whiton continued to discharge the duties of circuit judge of the first circuit, until the April term, 1853, when, having been elected chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State, he resigned to accept that position. Wyman Spooner, of Walworth county, was appointed to fill the vacancy until a successor could be elected. In September, 1853, James R. Doolit- tle, of Racine, was elected, and entered upon the discharge of the duties of judge of the first judicial circuit. He resigned the office in March, 1856, and Charles M. Baker, of Geneva, Walworth county, was appointed to fill the vacancy until a new election, which occurred in April following, when John M. Keep, of Beloit, was elected.
Judge Keep was obliged to resign on account of failing health. He died in the spring of
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
1861. He held the office about three years and was succeeded by David Noggle, who served first by appointment and then was elected in April, 1859, continuing as judge until January, 1866, when he was succeeded by William Penn Lyon, of Racine, now of the Supreme Court.
Judge Lyon held the office of judge of the first judicial circuit, as it was then constituted, until April 1, 1871, when, by a law of the leg- islature which took effect at that date, the counties of Rock and Green were detached from the first circuit and, with Jefferson, which was detached from the ninth circuit, constituted the twelfth judicial circuit. Harmon S. Conger, of Janesville, was elected on the first Tuesday in April, 1870, judge of the new circuit, his term of office beginning Jan. 1, 1871. This position he continued to fill until the time of his death, 1882.
John R. Bennett, of Janesville, having been elected the successor of Judge Conger, he was appointed by the governor to fill ont the few remaining month's of the official term of the latter, upon the expiration of which he entered upon the full term for which he had been elected and is now (1884) in office.
The first term of the circuit court was held in Green county, Sept. 4, 1848, Judge E. V. Whiton, presiding, "at the court house in the town of Monroe."
The second term was held in March, 1849, by Judge Mortimer M. Jackson. A special term was held by Judge Whiton, July 12th of that year. The last term held by Judge Whiton, was the March term, 1853, the last day March 11, of that year.
Judge Wyman Spooner held his first and only court in September, 1853, in Green county. The first day of the session was the 6th of that month; the last day, Sept. 10, 1853.
Judge James R. Doolittle's first term in this county, was in March, 1854, the first day of his holding court was the 6th of that month; his last term was in March, 1856.
At the September term, 1856, Judge M. M. Cothren presided in the Green county circuit court ..
Judge John M. Keep held a special (and his first) term in Green county Sept. 26, 1856. llis last term was March, 1858.
Judge David Noggle sat on the bench for the first time in the county of Green, at the Sep- tember term, 1858; his last, September, 1865.
Judge W. P. Lyon held his first term in this county, in March, 1866. Ile held his last court in the county, Oet. 5, 1870.
Judge HI. S. Conger held his first term in Green county, in March, 1871; his last term was in June, 1882.
Judge John R. Bennett held his first term in this county, in March, 1883 and is now (1884) in office:
The Asiatic cholera, that dreadful scourge of Nations, which had
"Left its home in the sultry east
With foreign blood to enrich its feast,"
made its appearance in Green county. This fact led to this entry in the record of the circuit court, Sept. 3, 1850: "It having been made to appear that a mortal sickness is now prevalent at Monroe, where this court is now sitting, it is therefore ordered that this court do now adjourn."
But three persons, in Green county, have been convicted of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to the State prison for life.
On the 19th day of June, 1878, Frederick Olirnz Sr., was shot and killed by his son, Fred- erick Ohrnz Jr., in the town of Sylvester, in this county. He was prosecuted by P. J. Clawson, district attorney of Green county ; and defend- ed by Brooks Dunwiddie and A. S. Douglas, attorneys at law. His trial commenced Octo- ber 14, 1878, before the following named jury- men : George Bray, Frank Wagner, J. Wilcox, David C. Day, L. F. Moore, S. R. Eldred, Philip Wackman, Nelson Bussy, John Gillett, Alonzo Edwards, Silas McCreedy and E. N. Thayer. They found the defendant guilty.
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
He was, after his attorneys had argued a mo- tion for a new trial, which was overruled by the court, sentenced to the State prison for life, on the 31st of October, 1878. The judgment of the court in this case was reversed by the Supreme Court on the 11th day of May, 1880. The defendant, who had been in prison, was re- turned to the keeping of the sheriff of Green county.
The defendant was tried the second time at the March term, 1881, in the circuit court of Green county, and found guilty, and was again sentenced for life to the State prison. He is now serving out his life sentence.
On the 5th day of November, 1882, Burckhard Bram shot and killed, in the town of New Glarus, Henry Steussy. He was arraigned for murder in the first degree, March 7, 1883, and plead "not guilty." He was prosecuted by District Attorney, P. J. Clawson ; defended by A. S. Douglas, attorney at law, assigned to that duty by the court. He was tried at the March term, 1883, of the circuit court of Green county, found guilty and sentenced to the State prison for life, March 20, 1883. He is now serving out his sentence.
On the 7th day of March, 1883, Margaret Steussy was arraigned as accessory before the fact in the killing of her husband, Henry Steussy by Burckhard Bram, and plead not guilty. She was prosecuted by P. J. Clawson, district attorney, assisted by A. S. Douglas ; and was defended by Brooks Dunwiddie, Colden WV. Wright and Alexander Wilson, attorneys at law. She interposed a plea of insanity at the October term, 1883, but was not tried on that plea until the March term of 1884, She was adjudged sane, and was then put upon trial as being accessory to the crime committed by Bram. She was found guilty and sentenced to the State prison for life, and is now serving her life sentence.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES.
Etboard Vernon Whiton.
was the son of Gen. Joseph Whiton, of Massa- chusetts, a soldier of the Revolution and of the War of 18!2, and was born at South Lee, Berk- shire Co., Mass., on the 2d of June, 1805. Dur- ing the first thirty years of his life he continued to reside in his native town, whenee he at length removed to the then Territory of Wisconsin, to take part in the great and glorious battle of life in that new field of development-the great West. He settled there when the present site Janesville and its neighborhood was almost a wilderness, and lived for some time the life of a pioneer in a cabin on the broad prairie. IIe was elected a member of the House of Repre- sentatives for the first session of the legislative assembly at Madison. At the next session he was elected speaker of the House. During those sessions, he was a frequent participant in debate, and took an active part in enacting the first Territorial code. Up to that time, the laws of Wisconsin consisted of the Territorial stat- utes of Michigan, and the laws of the Wiscon- sin legislature, passed at the sessions at Bel- mont and Burlington. The Revised Statutes which became of force on the 4th of July, 1839, were published under his supervision. In 1847 he was a member of the constitutional conven- tion which framed the constitution of the State. On the organization of the State goverment in 1848 he was elected circuit judge, and under the then system, became a judge of the Supreme Court. Hle occupied this position until 1853, when the "separate Supreme Court" was estab- lished, when he was elected chief justice, and re-elected in 1857, and continued to hold the office until he was compelled to leave it it by the disease of which he died. Chief Jus- tice Whiton was thoroughly identified with al- most every prominent event in the history of Wiesonsin, both as a Territory and as a State. Throughout the whole period of his residence in Wisconsin, his life was a public life, and he
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
filled the political and judicial stations succes- sively with such ability and integrity that the people exalted him from place to place until he had received the highest honors in their gift; and the positions with which he was honored were ennobled by the lustre of his conduct and character. Amid all the conflicts of party, both in the means by which he attained and the manner in which he discharged the duties of office, the purity of his character was ever un- sullied by the slightest breath of reproach, or even suspicion. In the early part of the year 1859, his health began to fail, and it became manifest to his associates upon the bench that his system was suffering from some malady which, it was hoped, would be but temporary in its effects, and would yield to the invigorating in- fluences of relaxation and home exercises, where the cares and anxieties of official responsibility would not intrude ; accordingly, his associates upon the bench, after much persuasion, induced him to retire, as all hoped, for a short season only, in order to recruit his energies for the approaching term, as well as to complete the unfinished business still remaining. Heleft the bench, as was supposed, in the confident expec- tation of returning to it again after a short re- spite at home. Insidious disease, however, had obtained too strong a hold in his system, and about noon on the 12th day of April, 1859, he died at his residence in Janesville, in the house of his own construction, loved and mourned as to few men it has been vouchsafed to be loved and mourned.
Among those officially and professionally con- nected with him, as well as among his private circle, his death called forth the deepest expres- sions of sincere regret and sorrow, at meet- ings of the bar of the Supreme Court and of the Milwaukee bar, as well as those held at the county seats of the several counties of the State, resolutions were adopted indicative of the great general loss felt by the people, as well as the exalted estimation in which the deceased judge was most deservedly held by bench and
bar. The president of the Milwaukee bar, in the course of a touching tribute to his virtues and ability said of him; "Were I to name any one sphere of action in his life in which he was most eminently distinguished, and for which he had a peculiar adaptation, I should say it was as a legislator. His varied information, strict in- tegrity, eminent conservatism and finely bal- anced mind all combined to make him a ready debater and a high-minded and patriotic legis- lator. But it is useless to name any one sphere when all the positions he ever occupied were filled so ably and perfectly," and another of his intimate associates said: "On this melancholy occasion, I can hardly trust myself to speak. For years, Judge Whiton has been to me, as it were, an elder brother. Our relations have been so harmonious, so uniformly genial, so en- tirely fraternal, that we have scarcely thought of official relation. During our long associa- tion in deliberation upon matters of the gravest concernment, while discussion has been most free and unrestrained, never an unkind word, nay, not even a petulant expression has been uttered. All through his official career, he pre- served a strictness of propriety which can scarcely be equaled, a conscientiousness which never wavered, a depth of thought, and com- prehensiveness of the subject-matter ever present, commanding without force, controlling without intrusion, clear and unassuming in his high office, great when he least thought of greatness, but great only wherein man can be truly great, because he was wise and good."
Wyman Spooner
was born in Hardwick, Mass., July 2, 1795. He spent many years in conducting a newspaper and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He set- tłed in Wisconsin in 1842, and was elected judge of probate in 1846. He was appointed judge of the first judicial cireuit of Wisconsin by the governor in 1853, upon the resignation of Judge Whiton, serving until the election and qualifying of Judge Doolittle. He was member of the assembly of the State for the
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
years 1850, 1851, 1857 and 1861, having been speaker in 1857. He was State senator for the years 1862 and 1863, and was three times elected lieutenant-governor of Wisconsin. He was a member of the first board of trustees of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. He died in Lyons in Walworth Co., Wis., on the 18th of Novem- ber, 1877.
James R. Doolittle
was born in Hampton, Washington Co., N. Y., on the 3d day of January, 1815. He graduated at Geneva College in 1834. Hle adopted the profession of law, and was admitted to the Su- preme Court of New York in 1837. Mr. Doo- little was district attorney for several years, of Wyoming Co., N. Y. He removed to Wiscon- sin in 1851, and was elected judge of the first judicial circuit in 1853, but resigned the office in 1856. The next year he was elected a United States senator by the legislature of Wisconsin, for the term of six years. He served as chair- man of the committee on Indian Affairs, and as a member of the committees on Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Military Affairs. He was also a member of the Peace Congress of 1861. In 1863 he was re-elected to the Senate for the term ending in 1869, as will appear by reference to the chapter in this History on "Congressional Representation." During the summer recess of 1865, as a member of a special committee of the Senate, he visited the Indian tribes west of the Mississippi river. He was also a delegate to the Philadelphia "National Union Conven- tion" of 1866, taking an active part in its pro- ceedings and officiating as president. Mr. Doo- little is now doing business in Chicago.
Charles M. Baker.
At Morristown, N. J., during the exciting times of the Revolution, were boru James Baker and Elizabeth Prince, the parents of Charles M. Baker. The father became a master builder in New York city, where the subject of this sketch was born, Oct. 18, 1804. In 1805 he removed to Addison Co., Vt., where, until twelve years of age, the son, Charles, enjoyed the privileges
of a neighborhood school. He then devoted all his spare time to preparation for a higher sphere, and in August, 1822, entered Middlebury College; but the severe study to which his thirst for knowledge incited him produced . a dyspep- sia, which compelled him to abandon the course near the close of his first year. Several months were then devoted to the recovery of his health, and in the fall of 1823 he obtained the position of assistant in a school for young ladies, at Philadelphia, where he remained for two years. In 1826 he entered the law office of S. G. Huntington, at Troy, N. Y., where he studied for three years, and was then admitted to the bar. In September, 1829, he was married to Martha W. Larrabee, of Shorcham, Vt. Hav- ing formed a partnership with Henry W., a brother of the late Marshall M. Strong, of Ra- cine, he removed, in the spring of 1830, to Seneca Falls, N. Y., and engaged in the practice of his profession, with excellent success, until 1834, when close application brought on a relapse of dyspepsia with such force that he relin- quished his practice and returned to Vermont, with little hope of surviving. Here his health so far improved that he was enabled to engage in trade, which he followed until 1838, when, selling his mercantile stock, he set out in Sep- tember of that year for Wisconsin, located land about Geneva lake, Walworth county, and be- came a resident of Geneva village, then in its infancy. Here he was first employed in public position by appointment as district attorney of of the newly organized county, in 1839. He was a member of the Territorial council for the counties of Walworth and Rock for four years, commencing in 1842, and also of the first con- stitutional convention, in 1846. In 1848 he was appointed by the governor one of the three commissioners to revise and codify the statutes of Wisconsin, and in March, 1849, was elected by the legislature to superintend the printing of the volume, which was done at Albany, N. Y., in the fall of that year. In 1856 he was ap- pointed by the governor to the bench of the
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
circuit court, upon the resignation of Judge Doolittle, but, upon the expiration of the term, could not be induced to become a candidate for election. He did not hold a term of conrt in Green county. During the war, he was a com- missioner under Provost Marshal Bean, in the first district.
His wife having died, he was married, in 1844, to Eliza Holt. His children by his first wife were two sons and a daughter. One of the sons is Hon Robert H. Baker, a well known and prominent citizen of Racine. He died of apoplexy, at his home in Geneva, Feb. 5, 1872.
Judge Baker lent earnest and faithful assist- ance to every work for the advancement of the public welfare. He was prominent among the able men who laid well and wisely the founda- tions of society in the formations of the institu- tions of the young commonwealth; one whose high character, personal and professional integ- rity, superior ability and enlarged public spirit thus employed, have left a deep and lasting im- pression, although he shunned the arena of pub- lic life, and preferred rather its peaceful though less conspicuous councils.
John M. Keep.
The subject of this sketch, who was the second son of Gen. Martin Keep, was born at Homer, Cortland county, in the State of New York, on the 26th of January, 1813. His parents were both from New England, and among the first settlers of Cortland county. After obtain- ing the rudiments of education at the district school, he, at an early age, entered the Cortland Academy at Homer, where he pursued the usual routine of academic studies, and prepared him- self for college. He entered the Hamilton Col- lege in 1832, and graduated in 1836, and was one of the first members of the Alpha Delta Phi society in that institution. The same year he commenced his legal studies, with Augustus Donnelly, a distinguished counselor at law, at Homer, N. Y., and completed them with Horatio Seymour, Esq., at Buffalo. He was duly admitted to the bar, and commenced prac-
tice at Westfield, N. Y., and, in the year 1845, he removed to Beloit, in the State of Wiscon- sin, then a mere settlement, where he continued to reside until his death. Here he engaged not only in a large law practice, but also took a very active part in all the enterprises that promised to promote the growth of the place and enhance the welfare of society, the pur- chase and sale of lands, in the erection of buildings, in the promotion of institutions of learning and the construction of railroads. He took an important part, and in many of these enterprises, was the animating spirit.
His mind seemed to grasp every subject, and his enterprise embraced every occupation. Though a lawyer by profession, and otherwise engaged in a variety of pursuits, agriculture did not escape his attention, or want his foster- ing care, for he knew that upon it depended the wealth, independence and morality of his adopt- ed State. Whatever was good or useful, what- ever tended to elevate human nature or amelior- ate the condition of mankind, was sure to find in him cordial support and efficient aid. The value of his labors is to be estimated chiefly by the results flowing from his great and active mind-a mind rich in the possession of every moral and intellectual quality. In the young and growing State and city, of which he was a resident, no man impressed his name on more enterprises of private munificence or public utility.
In the spring of 1856, he was elected with- out opposition, judge of the first judicial cir- cuit of the State of Wisconsin, but at the end of two and a half years, he was compelled to resign this laborious office on account of the loss of health, and the pressure of his private business. It soon became evident that consump- tion had fastened itself upon him, and from this time, the wasting of his bodily powers went on gradually, although he retained to the last moment of his life, the full vigor of his mind.
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HISTORY OF GREEN COUNTY.
Upon the death of Judge Keep, meetings of the bar were held at Beloit, Janesville, and also of the first judicial circuit, and appropriate resolutions passed, and eulogies pronounced upon the life and services of the deceased. At the meeting of the bar of the circuit, the Hon. H. S. Conger, the present presiding judge, ou taking the chair, said : "Judge Keep, however regarded, was no ordinary man. As a citizen, he was generous, benevolent and public spirited; of great firmness of character, untiring resolu- tion and indomitable energy. lle was bold, fearless and independent in thought and action; more resolute in the accomplishment of what- ever he regarded his duty than solicitous to win praise or favor at any sacrifice of principle however small "
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