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Recollections and Sketches of Notable Lawyers and Public Men of Early
Iowa W Unless noted, biographies submitted by Dick Barton. [Archibald] Williams, [Cyrus] Walker and
[R. S.] Blennerhassett were non-residents, but the two former had about as much practice
in Iowa as in Illinois,
where they lived, and Blennerhassett had considerable practice
in both Keokuk and Burlington, though he lived in St. Louis.
I heard much of
these men when I first came to Iowa; it is because of this,
their connection with many important cases and their wide practice in
this State, that I have been prompted to mention them in this connection.
And O. H. Browning might be included, as he also frequently came
to our Court. Of these Colonel Reid says: "Archibald Williams, O. H. Browning,
and Cyrus Walker used frequently to visit our courts, and were engaged in many cases, Williams and
Browning as land lawyers,
old Cyrus Walker as a great criminal lawyer.
Williams was one of
the homeliest men I ever met. His
head was large, his hair thin,
and stood in every direction on his head.
He was tall, erect and broad-chested. He had no color in his complexion and his teeth were large
and looked as though double in front.
He was no orator, and spoke with
deliberation, but with great argumentative power, which he directed to
the strong points in a case, that he saw intuitively. He had no personal
popularity, but was a great lawyer.
Browning, in his personal makeup,
was the reverse of Williams. He
was an extraordinary orator, with
no lack of words, with a silvery voice, handsome, pleasant face, and
as an advocate before a jury or addressing the court, he had much influence
and great power." Elias H.
Williams, I did not become
acquainted with until after he became
one of the judges of the Supreme Court of the State. We met at one of
its sessions as Dubuque, and soon established a friendly acquaintance, as we were both reared in Connecticut and had
many things in common with
that State. He had been the
Judge of the District Court of
the Tenth judicial District for a number of years, from 1858 until 1866,
and in 1870 was appointed by Governor Merrill, Judge of the Supreme Court to fill a vacancy.
He was a fine District Judge and would probably have proved an able Supreme Judge had he remained on
the bench, for he was not
only a finished scholar, but an able lawyer and jurist. He stood very high with all the lawyers of his district,
which was one of the most
important in the State. He was born at Ledyard, in the State of
Connecticut, in 1819. His ancestors
were among the most ardent patriots of the American Revolution.
He belonged to a strong race and was a good representative of
it. After receiving a
thorough preliminary education, he entered Yale
College, from which he was graduated with the highest honors. He was
subsequently a teacher for a few years - a portion of the time in South Carolina, where he imbibed a strong feeling against the institution
of slavery. He gained a
thorough legal education, was admitted
to the bar, engaged for a time in the practice, and in 1846 came
to Clayton County and settled at Garnavillo.
Here he entered upon the
practice of his profession, and in a comparatively short time established a high reputation as both a scholar and a lawyer.
He was stalwart in build and strong in constitution.
He had a frame and a will of
iron, coupled with an active and aggressive temperament.
He was fond of
manual exercise. These qualities tended to relax his professional labors
sufficiently for him to engage in farming upon a large tract of land
which he entered near Garnavillo, and which he converted into a beautiful
and productive farm. He did
not scruple to labor, but frequently
joined his "hands" and worked shoulder to shoulder with them. In this he took unbounded pleasure, but it did not result
in withdrawing him from the
active practice of his profession.
He managed to successfully
operate both lines. His
career as a successful farmer did not
detract from his reputation as a lawyer of great ability. In 1851 he was elected the first County
Judge under the new system of County government. Affairs
were in a deplorable condition when he took the office, but through his characteristic determination, the
old and outstanding debts
were soon paid off by a just system of taxation, new roads
were made, new bridges built, and at the end of his term he delivered
the County Government to his successor in a redeemed and prosperous
condition, and returned to his farm honored and respected by the
people for his able management of their affairs.
In 1858 he was elected
and served as District Judge, and was later appointed Supreme Judge,
as before stated. In addition to his successful farming and
legal practice, he actively engaged in the promotion of railroad enterprises, and was the
most influential factor in
securing the building of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad through Clayton County, and the construction
of the road up the Valley
of the Turkey River. He was
also at the head of the Company
that built the Iowa Eastern Railroad to Elkaker, and it is said, furnished
most of the means for that purpose. As before indicated, he was on the
Supreme Bench but a short time, resigning
for more congenial pursuits. He
did not believe in long opinions,
and those he delivered while on the Supreme Bench are strikingly brief. He
died in 1891. His wife,
whose maiden name was Hannah
Larabee, was a sister of Governor William Larabee. William
Williams ... It was my good fortune to become
acquainted with Judge [Joseph] Williams [Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Iowa] when I was
a young man, more than
fifty years ago. The spirit
of history, whether of individuals
or events, must be the spirit of truth, and in sketching him now,
it is my endeavor to draw as true and faithful a picture of him as my
poor ability and limited space will permit.
He was born in Huntingdon,
Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, as were his brothers William
and Robert. The first of
these became Major William Williams - a
name as familiar as a household word in Iowa - who went with the United
States troops in 1850 to establish a fort where now stands the city
of Fort Dodge; who, after the troops removed, purchased the site upon
which that beautiful city was built, laid out the town, gave it the name
it now bears, and labored a quarter of a century in its upbuilding. Through the deeply packed snow-drifts of the trackless
prairies, and in the face
of the most difficult conditions, he led the troops that went to
the relief of the settlers at the time of the Indian massacre at Spirit
Lake, and was subsequently appointed by Governor Kirkwood to defend
that frontier of the State. His
daughter became the wife of another
distinguished Iowan, whose name is closely identified with the history
of the State, and whose services were invaluable in its development
and in the molding of its laws and institutions, that splendid gentleman, John F. Duncombe, one of the strongest
lawyers and ablest men the
State ever had. The other brother mentioned, Robert
Williams, also removed from Pennsylvania
to Iowa in an early day and for many years was an honored citizen
of Muscatine, where he died some years ago.
From the daughters and
a son of Robert, still residing in Muscatine, and from the only surviving
child of Judge Williams, Mrs. William C. Brewster, of New York,
I learn, through the kindness of Judge W. F. Brannan, of Muscatine,
whose name and long judicial services are well known to Iowa lawyers and whose high character is a perfect guaranty of the reliability
of the medium, that Joseph was born in 1801; that he was the junior
of William and the senior of Robert; that their father died in 1822,
when Joseph was about twenty-one years of age, and that the latter had
lived at home and under the direction of his father until that time; that
the children were devotedly attached to the father and he to them, and
that Joseph was always distinguished for his kindness and affection.... (Old
Timber), and Those of Whom He Speaks. It
is difficult to write about this man; not because he was a deeply
learned lawyer or finished scholar, for he was neither; and that is just
what makes it difficult to write about one so widely known and talked
about in his time. He was thoroughly identified with not only the early,
but the mediaeval period of the Territory and State, for he lived and
did some business until he was above four score years. He was born in
New England, but removed while a young man to Virginia. He died in
Hardin County, Iowa, in 1886, after seeing the State, in its process of
development pass through several territorial conditions. He
ought to have been an actor, a comedian; he would doubtless have
attained eminence in that line, for he had a keen sense of the
ludicrous, and was sometimes insensibly ludicrous in himself.
Aristophanes or Moliere would have been delighted with such a subject.
He was highly convivial; he drank after the manner of the times but no
immoderately; he told stories that made the hearers laugh, joked with
friends without offending them, and always wore a cheerful face. He and
the eccentric Judge McFarland were intimates, and played many pranks
with each other. If he had been an English fox-hunting squire, he would
have been what is termed a hard rider. He was, nevertheless, a useful
man. He was a prime favorite with the pioneers and a serviceable factor
in the adjustment of their affairs, into which he easily made his way.
He was a typical pioneer lawyer, entering the wilderness before the
Indians were out, and practicing on both the Illinois and Iowa sides of
the Mississippi wherever white settlements had been made. He was suited
to the times, had a wide practice, and faithfully served his clients. While
in some sense a politician, he was not an office seeker. He worked for
the elevation of others rather than himself. Notwithstanding he enjoyed
many public favors. He was one of the early Clerks of the Supreme Court,
at one time Secretary of the Senate, at different times Prosecuting
Attorney. His name never fails to appear among the little group of
lawyers who were attendants at the earliest courts. He was the legal
counselor of the Mormon Prophet, Joseph Smith, and of his brother,
Hyrum, and brought or accompanied their bodies from Carthage, where they
were murdered, to Nauvoo. He received from the body of Joseph his
personal effects and turned them over to his widow. He more than once
did good service for the State; so conspicuously on one occasion, that
Professor Parvin says in the narrative attached to the sketch of that
gentleman, that Mr. Woods deserves a memorial at the hands of the
Commonwealth. It was in respect to the establishment of the western
boundary line of the State when it was seeking admission into the Union.
The Constitutional Convention of 1844 made the Missouri River the
western boundary, but Congress, when the Constitution thus fixing it was
presented, curtailed it by cutting off about one-third of it on the
western side bordering on that river, and sent the Constitution back to
be ratified by the people. In defeating this proposed ratification, he
did yeoman's service, on the stump and among the people to whom he was
everywhere known, and with whom he was immensely popular by reason of
his free and easy ways, his good fellowship, his perennial humor and
unbounded generosity. He was a good mixer; a hale fellow well met. These
qualities drew to him good audiences. They also enabled him to meet on
friendly ground and talk the matter over with the people. The services
he thus performed in assisting to defeat a measure that would have
deprived Iowa of perhaps its most fertile portion - what is known as the
Western Slope - and circumscribed its extent to inferior limits, were
invaluable and deserve the remembrance of the State. He and his compeers
had the efforts and influence of some prominent men to oppose. It was
contended and largely believed that the excluded portion was not an
important one, and that the failure to include it would prove of no
great detriment, while, on the other hand, the defeat of the
constitution tendered to the people for adoption, would indefinitely
postpone the admission of Iowa as one of the States of the Union. It has
also been said that the desire of certain ambitious men to secure
political honors from the State was an incentive to their efforts to
have the constitution adopted, and that the federal administration
participated in this desire. This harsh judgment I am not disposed to
confirm. It might be unjust. His
colleagues in this successful effort to defeat the Constitution thus
limiting the boundary, were Edward Johnston, Shepherd Leffler, Frederic
D. Mills (afterwards killed in the Mexican War), Enoch W. Eastman and
Theodore S. Parvin. But Charles Aldrich, the late revered Curator of the
State historical Department, in a sketch of Theodore S. Parvin which
appeared in the October, 1901, Annals of Iowa, limits the co-operation
in this effort to Enoch W. Eastman, Frederic D. Mills and T. S. Parvin
and gives them all the praise, thus excluding Woods, Johnston and
Leffler. In this, Mr. Aldrich committed an error - something very rare
in him, and it is not singular that he did, but rather that he got so
near the mark in respect to an occurrence of which no public record was
made and which must be dependent on mere tradition or the testimony of
witnesses contemporaneous with the event. Such a witness I have in the
person of Mr. Parvin himself. Professor Parvin, in his narration to me,
which will be made a part of his sketch, following this, thus states it:
["]
Edward Johnston, James W. Woods, Shepherd Leffler, Frederic D. Mills and
E. W. Eastman got together and agreed to canvass the Territory in
opposition to the Constitution. They planned the canvass of the entire
Territory, but it was too much for them, and they thought they had
better confine themselves to the First District, which was at
Burlington. They were opposing it on the ground of the boundary line.
They were all Democrats - a Democratic Constitution and a Democratic
Convention. Finding they had too much to do, they wanted to know if I
would be willing to canvass the Second District, which embraced all the
region commencing with Muscatine County, running up to Jackson and
taking in Johnson, Iowa, and all the counties in that part of the State.
I entered the canvass against the ratification of the Constitution, and
when the vote was canvassed it was only beaten by 250. Woods canvassed
the Southern District thoroughly and energetically. I have not a shadow
of a doubt but that the constitution would have been adopted by a large
majority if it had not been for these efforts. I canvassed the Second
District alone, and these four other men canvassed the First District.
["] Mr.
Parvin states that the services of Mr. Woods were so valuable that, "The State of Iowa ought to make some recognition of his services
and vote him a pension." * [* Mr. Woods at this time had come to be
very old and in poor circumstances.] Judge
Mason, as we have seen, was of the impression that David Rorer and James
W. Grimes were the only lawyers actually residing in Burlington when he
went there in 1837, and that Mr. Woods did not come there to live until
the following year. Mr. Woods says that he and W. W. Chapman had become
residents there for quite a while before that, and as to which was the
first actual resident lawyer there, lays between him and Chapman.
However the question of actual location may be, it is beyond doubt that
he and Chapman attended and practiced in the County Court in Des Moines
County, at Burlington, when we were a part of Michigan Territory, upon
the division of the Black Hawk Purchase by the Legislature of that
Territory, and before we became a part of Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Woods
was not only one of the twenty lawyers admitted at the first term of the
Supreme Court at Burlington, but according to Professor Parvin who was
present, he had and argued the only case before it at that term, which
lasted only one day. Since
I have referred to Judge McFarland and his intimacy with Mr. Woods, I
may as well say a word of him here, for fear time and space may not
allow of it hereafter. When I came to Iowa in 1856, Judge McFarland and "Old Timber," the sobriquet of Mr. Woods, were frequently
referred to by the old timers. Judge
McFarland was certainly a unique, and I might say, the most grotesque
character that ever presided over an Iowa Court. I know nothing of his
origin or bringing up, but one would judge that his early life had been
amid the rough conditions of the frontier. It must be confessed that the
drink habit was much in vogue among the early lawyers, and it would seem
that Judge McFarland, at least at times, indulged pretty freely, and
these was nothing half way about him. He was a very tall, stalwart,
well-shaped man, with a beard as long and flowing as that of Aaron. He
was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1856, and it is
said that his striking appearance and manner attracted general
attention. He was a man of decided ability and had it not been for the
weakness referred to, would probably have distinguished himself. On the
bench he usually presided with force and propriety, but sometimes showed
the effects of the previous night's indulgence in ways that in these
modern days would have invoked the public censure, if not impeachment or
removal. He familiarly addressed the lawyers before him by their first
name. Numerous anecdotes were told of him. I will relate two, one of
which will illustrate the facetious qualities of Mr. Woods and the
liberties he took with Judge McFarland, while both will illustrate
phases of the Judge. In one case, Marcellus M. Crocker, afterwards one
of the distinguished Generals in the Civil War, was on one side, Mr.
Woods on the other. Woods filed a demurrer to the pleadings of Crocker's
client, which, if sustained, would result in the abatement of the case.
In arguing his point, Mr. Woods saw that the Judge was in a mood that
would justify some liberties to be taken, and out of pure facetiousness,
in the course of his argument, thus alluded to an imaginary case: "Your Honor will perhaps recollect having decided this point in my
present favor by ruling against me when it was presented by Mr. Starr in
the case of Brown vs. Smith at Burlington." The Judge pricked up
his ears and, turning to Crocker said, "How to this, Marcellus? Let
me see those pleadings." He looked at them and said,
"Marcellus, Old Bass Wood has got you. I remember the case he has
cited, and following the precedent I shall sustain his point." The
other incident was related at a Bar Supper some thirty-five years ago at
Des Moines, at which I was present, by Judge J. C. Knapp, of Keosauqua,
one of Iowa's ablest lawyers, and of whom I shall again speak. Judge
Knapp said he was trying a case before judge McFarland, in which an aged
father was endeavoring to have cancelled a deed made by him to his son,
in consideration of the support promised him by the latter. The gravamen
of the complaint was, that the son had failed in his promise and had
mistreated his father. Judge Knapp was for the defense. In the course of
the trial a witness testified that on a certain occasion the defendant
shamefully abused his father and struck him a blow. Upon this, Judge
McFarland, who had been seemingly drowsy, almost dozing, suddenly raised
himself in his seat, and bending forward towards the defendant,
exclaimed: "You strike your old father! You strike your old father!
I'll show you not to strike your poor old father!" The effect on
Judge Knapp can be imagined by anyone who knew him. He seized his hat
and started for the door with the exclamation that he could be of no
further use in the case. "Hold on, Baldy!" (Knapp was somewhat
bald) "Hold on, Baldy," said the Judge. But Baldy did not hold
on, he stalked in disgust from the court room. this is the greatest
breach of judicial decorum that Judge McFarland is reported to have
committed. But while it was flagrant and unpardonable, it nevertheless
showed that he had an irresistible sense of natural justice and filial
duty. In
1882 I induced Mr. Woods to come from his home in Hardin County, Iowa,
to Ottumwa, and tell me that he knew of the olden times. I comfortably
quartered him at a hotel where he remained for some two or three weeks,
and where I frequently visited him with a stenographer who took down the
conversations that occurred between us. Prompted by my curiosity, I
asked him a great variety of questions, the answers to some of which
naturally enough took a wide range and introduced many matters of
irrelevant, redundant, and sometimes private character that would not be
fitting to relate. He was then upwards of eighty years of age, but his
memory, especially in one so old, was remarkable. My previous
conceptions of him were confirmed. He was reminiscent to a high degree,
good-natured, cheerful as a boy. He was tall and rather slender, but
well formed - I should say a little over six feet - a little, but not
much, bent under the weight of his years; his pleasant face softened by
kindly eyes, a little dimmed. As I looked upon him, and thought of his
associates with the early conditions, the hardships through which he had
passed, of the adverse winds that had blown upon him, of the earnings
that he had strewn upon friends along the way, of the long course he had
journeyed, of the shifting scenes he had witnessed, of his departed
associates, of his boon companions in the homely carousals, who one
after another had passed away, and that he was the last survivor of, and
participant in, the earliest civilization in that part of Iowa, I felt a
sort of veneration for him. Instead
of giving our colloquial interviews in the formal questions and answers
asked and given, I have condensed the pertinent portions into narrative
form which I now present: ["]
I was born fifteen miles from Boston, removed to Virginia in 1824, and
remained there until 1832, when I came West. I had studied law and been
admitted to the bar in 1827. I reached Iowa in 1833 after the close of
the Black Hawk War, and settled where Burlington now is. There were then
not even log cabins. ["]
I think W. w. Chapman was the first lawyer in Iowa. He was here when I
first came out West. I met him at the first term of the County Court,
held at Burlington in April, 1835. He was living in Hancock County,
Illinois, and had married a daughter of Arthur Ingraham. He afterwards
removed to and settled in Burlington. I really think that he was the
first lawyer that settled in the State. Ingraham was an old farmer who
had settled near Carthage, Hancock County, Illinois. He came over and
settled and Chapman came over afterwards. Ingraham had a large family.
Chapman followed the old man over here. ["]
Of course, I came to Burlington before Mr. Chapman, but I was backwards
and forwards between Illinois and what is now Iowa, and I had no family
at the time I came. I married afterwards. There is where Judge Mason had
made his mistake. Mr. Chapman had a family and as I had none, I give him
the precedence. * (* This narration of Mr. Woods was made some two years
after that of Judge Mason which I took the liberty of submitting to the
perusal of Mr. Woods.) I was a good deal in Illinois and I had practiced
in what they call the Military tract and used to attend court from Pike
County, Illinois Territory, as far north as they could go, where there
were any inhabitants, up to Fulton County and Bureau. I was in Illinois
perhaps half the time. I did not marry until 1836. I went back to
Illinois and married and brought my wife over. I intended to make
Burlington my home from the time I came there in 1833. I crossed the
river by myself. Martin McCarver, Simpson S. White, Amasa Doolittle, Dr.
Parker L. Shuff and Tom Duthrow were there. They were camped on the east
bank of the river. Dr. Shuff was from Kentucky and was the first doctor
there. Simpson S. White was a brother of Aaron. McCarver married a
sister of Aaron White; so did Doolittle. They were all brothers-in-law
except Dr. Shuff. The hills where Burlington now stands were covered
with a heavy growth of timber, among which were a great number of large
horse chestnut trees. It was a primeval forest. The men above mentioned
built the first cabin. It was in what is now called Court Street,
between Third and Fourth Streets. It stood right in Court Street. The
first court was held in a log cabin north of where that cabin was built.
That was several years after the first cabin I have mentioned was built.
Under the Treaty we could not get possession until June, 1833, but the
men I have mentioned, came over in April and built this cabin, and
Captain Jesse Brown came up with a squad of men from Montrose and tore
the cabin down and set the men back over the river for being in
violation of the Treaty. After the soldiers returned, these men built a
fart, crossed over and rebuilt the cabin. It was built of green buckeye;
the soldiers tried to burn it down, but it would not burn. I
subsequently bought the logs of the cabin and laid them down for walks
to my out-buildings. I built my house on the lot where Ben Hall now
lives. I preempted the lot and took possession some time in 1834. the
act of Congress laying off the towns of Fort Madison, Burlington,
Belleview, Dubuque and Mineral Point gave to settlers the right of
preemption to lots and the towns were afterwards surveyed. There were
several cabins in the neighborhood at the time. There were no Indians
just there, but Black Hawk and his men were down on Devil Creek, and
Wapello was at the village of Wapello in Louisa County with his Indians.
There was a reservation of ten miles on the Iowa River and Wapello
remained there for several years. ["]
At the first court at Wapello in Louisa County, there were but two
houses, one of which was occupied by Mr. Ingraham, the clerk, and the
other by a man of the name of Dedrick, a discharged dragoon of the Black
Hawk War, who kept a provision store. There was no place for the grand
jury and they held their deliberations in a gully near the Iowa River. I
was appointed Prosecuting Attorney. The jury sent the bailiff for me,
and you know it is a rule that there should be no one present at the
finding of an indictment except the members of the grand jury. I got
upon the trunk of a tree and told them what I thought about the
evidence, having been asked to do so. Thereupon Mr. Smith, the foreman
of the grand jury, picked up a two-gallon jug and walked across the
gully and said, "All that are in favor of finding this a true bill,
come across the gully and take a drink of whiskey." But when he did
this the conclusion reached was generally right. I drew up the
indictment. There were no bills ignored that the foreman thus
recommended. ["]
At a Democratic political meeting, during a term of court at Knoxville,
Scholte, the founder of the Holland Colony at Pella, suggested to Judge
McFarland, who was present, that there were about one hundred Hollanders
who desired to get their naturalization papers, and the Judge took the
Clerk, the Sheriff and the records and repaired to Pella, fifteen miles
distant, opened court and naturalized these one hundred Hollanders, and
it was the first time that Marion County ever went Democratic, but the
records were made to show that all of it was regularly done at
Knoxville. ["]
Here is an incident in connection with Dan Finch. Finch had probably
been up all night of the day before. He was sitting in a seat with his
feet on a chair and his hat on. He did not notice the call opening the
Court, and Judge McFarland asked, "Who is that man with his hat
on?" Finch said, "Your Honor, I am a Quaker." "Oh,
is that so?" said the judge. Pretty soon Finch got up and went to
another seat and sat down and took his hat off. Thereupon the Judge
said, "Mr. Finch, a few moments ago you informed me that you were a
Quaker. Put on your hat, Sir." ["]
David Irvin was one of the first Territorial Judges after the
organization of Wisconsin Territory. He was a Virginian. He was assigned
to the first district west of the Mississippi River. He was about
forth-five years of age; a genuine 'high-toned' gentleman; well informed
upon all the current events of the day, even to horses, dogs and guns;
at all times ready to attend to any fun. He could show a tailor how to
cut and fashion a garment, a bootmaker how to make and fit a boot, a
barber how to strop a razor; in fact, he could teach a housekeeper how
to cook meals and make beds, and upon all occasions he imparted this
knowledge. He was, withal, most profoundly impressed with the F. F. V.'s
of that time. When upon the bench he was a fair and able jurist enough,
but one of the most technical Judges it has been my fortune to meet in a
constant attendance on the courts of more that fifty years. This
anecdote was told about him: A man had an important case before him and
having obtained a decree in his favor, was about leaving the court room
when he met the Judge's dog and gave him a violent kick. This was too
much for the Judge, and he directed the Clerk to make an entry setting
aside the decree. Whether he ever reinstated it I don't know, but I
presume he did after he cooled down. He was so strict and technical that
upon one occasion when Washington County was organized and the county
seat had been located a half mile from Gobles - the nearest house - at a
place called Astoria, he would not hold court at the house, but rode out
to where the town site was located, and improvised my buggy for the
Judge's seat, and the Clerk used the top of the buggy for his desk. That
was the first term of court in that County, and there were present:
David Irvin, the Judge; Thomas Baker, the Clerk; Joseph Welch (or Welty),
Sheriff; William W. Chapman, U. S. District Attorney, and myself. Hiram
Bennet was Deputy Marshal, and fifteen residents constituted the grand
jury. Upon the separation of Iowa from Wisconsin, Judge Irvin was
assigned to a District in Wisconsin, and since that time I have lost
sight of him. ["]
The County seat of Johnson County was located four miles south of Iowa
City, at a place called Napoleon. The first court was held at Stover's
house - a double log cabin with a hall between. There was only one house
there. Stovers occupied one room of it as a dwelling and Gilbert Davis
used the other as an Indian trading station. A man by the name of Wallis
was there from Linn County, held for horse stealing. S. C. Hastings was
Prosecuting Attorney, and he and Judge Williams used the part of the
building occupied by Gilbert Davis, and in the other room was the
prisoner. ["]
About the first court proceedings. At the close of the Black Hawk Was a
military post was established below Montrose, and four companies of
Dragoons were stationed there under the command of Colonel Phillip
Kearney. Speaking of the military regulations of the Government, no one
was permitted to keep or sell intoxicating liquors within four miles of
the military station. Samuel and Joseph Briley had a place at Nashville,
five miles south of the garrison and sold whisky to the Dragoons who
were in the habit of visiting the place, and Colonel Kearney despatched
a squad of men under Captain Jesse B. Brown to destroy the whisky. They
found twenty gallons of whisky, some gin and brandy, with which they
filled their canteens. Briley brought a suit against Brown for the value
of the liquor, 125 dollars, and obtained judgment. This was the first
judgment found and entered in a court of record in Iowa. It was while we
were a part of Michigan Territory. I was the Attorney for the
plaintiffs. ["]
The country west of the Mississippi River, being organized and divided
into the Counties of Des Moines and Dubuque, there was established a
County Court, consisting of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices.
The court was to be held twice a year and two of the judges constituted
a Court for the transaction of business. The judges of the County Court
for Des Moines County were William Morgan as Chief Justice; Young L.
Hughes and Henry Walker as Associate Justices. William R. Ross was the
Clerk. The first regular session of this Court was held in 1835 at
Burlington in a log building on the corner of 3d and 4th Streets, east
of the public square. This was in April, 1835. The attorneys present
were W. W. Chapman, now of Oregon, Joseph B. Teas of Hancock County,
Illinois, who afterwards died in Albia, Robert W. Williams, of Quincy,
Illinois, and myself. Our modes of doing business were rather primitive.
In a certain case I filed a demurrer to Chapman's petition. After the
argument Chief Justice Morgan directed the Clerk to put the demurrer
under the table, which consisted of a dry goods box, a receptacle for
waste paper. The Court did not desire to decide the demurrer then and
the Clerk did as he was directed. But when I came to argue the case to
the jury I obtained the demurrer from the waste papers and argued it to
the jury who were more considerate of it than the Judge, and gave me a
verdict. Little regard was paid to the forms of law, and yet substantial
justice was generally done. Associate Judge Hughes had a woman working
for him by the name of Dobson. She desired a divorce and wanted me to
get it for her. I inquired as to whether there had been any notice given
to her husband. Judge Hughes said that about a month previous Dobson had
come to see his wife, and that he (Judge Hughes) had told him that if he
did not provide for his wife before court commenced, he would grant her
a divorce. The Judge said Dobson had not done anything, and he asked
Judge Morgan if he would sign a decree of divorce in the wife's favor,
if I would prepare one. He said he would, and in accordance with the
order of the Court I drew up a decree, and it was signed and became a
part of the record. This beats the Chicago divorce proceedings. ["]
Yes, I knew Cyrus Walker very well. He frequently came over to attend
Court. He had a son, a rather tall boy, whom he settled at Fort Madison.
He formed a sort of partnership with Judge Stockton and they took in the
circuit of Des Moines, Lee, Jefferson, Van Buren and Henry Counties.
Walker traveled around, and would go to see about his son at Fort
Madison. His son did not remain there a great while. walker was an able
lawyer. He stood at the head of the bar in Kankakee County, Illinois. He
and Judge Logan, of Illinois, were from the same part of the country.
Judge Logan was what you might call a singe-cat, with light hair and
boyish face, but a better lawyer than even Cyrus Walker was. He and
Walker were competitors in Kankakee. Logan staid at Rocheville and
Walker at Macomb - no, I am mistaken, Logan was from Springfield, but
practiced at Rocheville. ["]
John C. Breckinridge, afterwards U. S. Senator from Kentucky, and Vice
President of the United States, was at Burlington and practiced there
for a while. He came from Kentucky to Burlington with Mr. Bullock. they
remained about two years and then returned to Kentucky. Mr. Bullock's
son, Thomas W. Bullock, was afterwards Governor of Kentucky, and he
himself was elected Judge after he returned to Kentucky. I recollect
traveling with Breckinridge from Burlington to Fairfield at the time
Ross was tried for killing Bradstreet. Breckinridge and myself were
there together. He must have come to Burlington about 1839. The Ross who
killed Bradstreet was William W. Ross and no relation to Dr. William R.
Ross. He was a brother of John Ross that kept the Ogden House at Council
Bluffs, and a brother of Cap Ross, who killed Dr. Wright at a land sale
in Ottumwa. Ross was from Virginia. His father was Register of the Land
Office and succeeded Van Antwerp and Dodge in 1840. He was appointed
Register of the Land Office by President Harrison. General Arthur
Bridgeman married a sister of the Ross who killed Bradstreet. The
difficulty between them grew out of some remark that Bradstreet had made
about Bridgeman while Bridgeman was in St. Louis. Ross heard of it and,
meeting Bradstreet at the post office, struck him with his riding whip.
Bradstreet said, "I am not prepared for you now, but I will
be." And he did prepare. He was boarding at the National Hotel on
Jefferson Street between main and Third. His room was upon the corner
between Main and Columbia Streets. He had two blocks to go to his
boarding house. Our market was in the middle of Washington Street, just
above Main between that and Third Street. The street was wide enough for
passage on each side. There was a livery stable north of Washington
Street. Bradstreet was a speculator and wealthy. While he was coming
down from his room on the street, Ross was coming down from Washington
Street, on the south side of the market, and they met midway on
Washington Street, and commenced firing. It was difficult to tell who
had fired first, but a man by the name of Taylor, a brother-in-law of
Chapman, testified that he saw them meet, and saw Ross hold up his right
arm while he had his pistol in his left hand, and saw a flash strike
Ross under this arm, and that if there were two shots they were
simultaneous. They continued firing and John Ross came out of an alley
back of the livery stable mentioned, as soon as the firing commenced.
They kept on firing for about half a block, Ross following Bradstreet
up, and when they got to a little building by the post office Bradstreet
stumbled and fell upon the platform right in front of the post office
door and died almost immediately. There were nine bullets in Bradstreet
and five in Ross. Ross was picked up for dead and taken to his father's
house. It was thought that he was mortally wounded and it was a long
time before he could be taken to the jail, where he was placed in an
upper room. Cyrus Walker defended him, the case was tried at Fairfield
and he was acquitted. * ["]
(* Judge Henry C. Caldwell related to me some years ago a thrilling
incident of this trial, of which I made a note at the time and which, as
near as I can remember, was about in the following language: "The
trial of Ross for the killing of Bradstreet, by reason of the
circumstances, the character of the persons involved and the lawyers
engaged, attracted a good deal of attention, and my father decided to
make the journey to Fairfield and hear the arguments. I was only a boy
of some eight or nine years of age, but he took me along with him, and I
received impressions so vivid that they have lasted a lifetime. Cyrus
Walker was for the defendant. I listened to his entire speech with great
interest and to a certain part of it with great emotion. the pivotal
point in the case was as to who had fired the first shot. Witnesses
testified to circumstances pro and con, but nothing certain and the
question was left in great doubt, when the mother of Ross was called as
a witness and testified that she knew Bradstreet had fired the first
shot, because she was perfectly familiar with the sound of William's
pistol, she had heard it so often when he was shooting at the mark with
others; that knowing what had happened, she did not want William to go
out and when he did, she feared there might be a meeting between him and
Bradstreet and was anxiously looking out and listening; that she heard
the first shot, and screamed, fearing that William had been killed, but
in an instant she heard another shot, and cried out, "No! William
is defending himself, that is his pistol. I know it from the
sound." Walker treated this circumstance as decisive of the
disputed point, and illustrated it by this incident in his experience.
He said that at an early period of Kentucky, the portion in which some
families had settled was so unsatisfactory that they concluded to seek
another location, and three men of the community were selected to go in
quest of some more favorable situation. They went into the Indian
Country. They did not return when expected, and when at the end of three
years they had failed to do so, and no tidings of them were received,
they were given up as having been slaughtered by the Indians. As a
matter of fact, two of them had been, but the third, on account of the
accuracy of his aim, had been spared by the Indians to shoot game for
them, and had finally managed to escape and make his way homeward. He
drew near his house in the night. He had retained his rifle, and when he
got near he fired it. Whereupon his wife who heard it, jumped from her
bed exclaiming, "Thank God! Thank God! Jesse is alive! I know it! I
know it, for it is his rifle!" and rushed from the door into her
husband's arm.) ["]
I was the legal counsel of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, the Mormon leaders.
You ask me to relate the circumstances leading up to their murder. In
June, 1844, while I was standing at the wharf at Burlington, a note was
handed to me from Joe Smith requesting me to come to Nauvoo. I jumped
aboard and went down. Joe and his brother Hyrum were concealed in a
pawpaw thicket across the river in Lee County. I was piloted over in a
boat by three men. When we reached the other side we found a couple of
horses saddled and bridled all ready to go. We mounted and rode down the
river for about three miles and then turned up a ravine, which we
traversed for about three-quarters of a mile through a thicket and came
to the camp of Joe and Hyrum Smith. There were about twenty other men
with them. We held a consultation and concluded that Smith should return
to Nauvoo, and that I should go to Governor Ford, of Illinois, and
obtain a pledge from him that the Smiths should have a fair and
impartial trial and that they should be protected from all bodily farm.
A warrant had been issued on a charge of riot and for destroying the
press of the "Nauvoo Expositor," a newspaper which had charged
that Joe had been tampering with other men's wives. Joe was the Mayor of
Nauvoo and the council passed an ordinance declaring the
"Expositor" a nuisance and ordering its destruction. It was
accordingly set fire to and burned up. I was in Nauvoo at the time and
saw it. Thereupon the warrant was issued for their arrest. smith refused
to be taken, declared martial law, and would let nobody go out or come
in. Thereupon a large crowd of men collected about Carthage, the county
seat, coming in from the surrounding counties. Governor Ford came and
ordered out the militia, organized it and gave the command to Colonel
Denin, sheriff of Hancock County. This was the state of affairs when
Smith sent for me. I advised him to return to Nauvoo, as already stated,
and disband his legion, and I went to Carthage, where I met the Governor
and obtained from him the pledge of safety before referred to. I
returned with it to where I had left Smith and we started on the
following morning for Carthage. About nine miles out we met Captain
Denin (or Dunn) with a company of cavalry and an order from Governor
Ford for the surrender of the state arms which the legion had drawn
under the state laws. Then I thought it unsafe for smith to go on. I
also thought it would be unsafe for the Captain and his men to go to
Nauvoo without the Smiths and the other leaders with him, as there were
about twenty thousand Mormons at Nauvoo. Under these conditions it was
agreed that Smith should go back to Nauvoo and assist in gathering the
government arms that were to be given up or back to the State. On this
being done, I was to report the fact to Governor Ford, and then the
Smiths and the other prisoners were to surrender themselves under the
pledge of safety and protection that had been given by Governor Ford.
They accordingly went on to Nauvoo and carried out that part of the
program by collecting the arms that were to be given up. There were four
pieces of cannon, about one thousand stand of private arms, and at about
twelve o'clock at night Captain Denin (or Dunn) reported with the arms
and the defendants to the headquarters of the Governor at Carthage. I
was there at the time, in an upper room fronting the street, talking
with the Governor. Captain Denin (or Dunn) came up to the room where we
were and reported. In a short time about five hundred of the soldiers
encamped on the public square came rushing and clamoring for a sight of
Joe and Hyrum Smith. The Governor promised that if they would retire to
their quarters peaceably he would introduce them to the Smiths in the
morning. These men belonged to the militia that had been organized by
the Governor, as I have before stated, for the purpose of taking the
Smiths. It was for the most part an organized mob. The McDonnough and
Brown County men were rather quiet; the worst were the Adams and Hancock
men. The next morning Captain Denin had the men drawn up on the public
square by companies. He took Joe Smith on his right and Hyrum on his
left. Denin introduced Joe and Hyrum to the heads, centers, and flanks
of the companies - making three halts at each company. There were about
fifteen hundred men there. When he got to where a portion of the
companies were I felt a little squeamish myself. I was told afterwards
that there were at least a hundred men loaded to shoot Joe Smith, but I
was on his right and he was on Captain Denin's right. I was between
Smith and the militia. I knew almost every man in the crowd, for I had
been practicing law in those counties for years. They told me afterwards
that but for me Joe would have never passed through the lines alive;
they did not want to hurt me; I could name nearly every one of them. I
was merely the attorney, but I felt good when I got back to the
Governor's headquarters. We were three days justifying bail. The justice
of the peace was really one of the leaders of the mob and he refused to
accept bail as long as he could. Colonel Singleton was the attorney for
the prosecution. I sent for Edward Johnstone to assist me and he sent
his law partner, Hugh T. Reid. Before bail was accepted Chauncey Higbee
and Doctor Foster filed an information charging the two Smiths with high
treason and they were arrested on this charge, and the justice on his
own motion continued the case for three days and ordered the men to
jail. The next morning the Governor signified his intention of going to
Nauvoo to search for counterfeit money. To this I objected. I was
satisfied that as long as the Governor remained in Carthage the Smiths
would be safe, and that as soon as he left there would be no safety. I
so told him and asked him for a guard. He discharged the troops from
McDonnough County and the other outside counties, and gave me the
"Carthage Greys" as a guard. The justice of the peace I have
referred to was the Captain, and more than one-half of the men were of
the mob. But all I could do was to go with them. The jail was in the
northwest corner of the town - rather in the outskirts and four or five
hundred yards west of the court house. The Carthage Greys took up their
quarters in the court house, and sent a guard of eight men to the jail.
I went to see Joe in the jail and told him what I had done and that it
was the best I could do. He wanted me to go to Nauvoo and have the
Mormons there make preparations to receive the Governor. There were in
the jail, Joe and Hyrum Smith, Taylor, and Richards. The last words
Joseph Smith said to me were, "Woods, I want you to go and prepare
my people, for I will never live to see another sun. They have
determined to murder me, and I never expect to see you again. I have no
doubt you have done the best you could for me." He proved to be a
prophet, for he did not live to see another sun. I went to Nauvoo and
the Governor arrived about two hours after I got there. He made a speech
to the people and intended to remain a couple of days, but I discovered
afterwards that he was alarmed. He told me he was going to return to
Carthage. He went over to his room, and by the way, he kept the
principal hotel in the city at that time. We went over there and took
supper, and the Governor and his escort left about twilight for
Carthage. When they had got about four miles on their way they were met
by a Mr. Grant who was bringing the news of the murder of Joseph and
Hyrum Smith in the Carthage jail. Grant came on to Nauvoo, arriving at
my room about three o'clock in the morning and told me the news. I did
not disturb anybody as I did not want to create excitement at that time.
A little after daylight I received a letter from Governor Ford brought
to me by a messenger, informing me of the murders and asking me to
restrain the Mormons, and authorizing me to put the city in a condition
to repel any mob, and if possible prevent the Mormons from leaving the
city. I put a man on an old white horse and gave him a trumpet to sound.
That was the way they called their meetings. In an hour I suppose there
were ten thousand Mormons in the Temple Grove; I addressed them and got
a pledge that they would not leave the city. Six hundred men were
detailed by the marshal to prevent anyone from leaving or coming into
the city. The city was about six miles square. After I received the
letter from Governor Ford I conveyed to the widows of Joseph and Hyrum
Smith the news of their husbands' death. I then mounted my horse and
went to Carthage to have the bodies brought over to Nauvoo. It was
supposed that John Taylor - afterwards president of the Mormon Church at
Salt Lake City - had been fatally wounded in the struggle at the jail. I
brought the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum back to Nauvoo. There was a great
crowd to meet us formed in line said to have been two miles long. I took
the bodies to the Mansion and delivered them to the family friends, and
they were placed in state in the dining room of the Mansion, so that
everyone could pass through and see them. I think it took about two
hours for them to pass through. From an outside platform Hugh T. Reid,
of Fort Madison, who had assisted me, and myself looked over the vast
crowd that had assembled, spreading out in every direction almost as far
as the eye could reach. There were at least twenty thousand people. ["]
Now as to the details of the shooting. A little after six o'clock a mob
of eighty men approached the Carthage jail from the northwest through a
skirt of timber. Between the timber and the jail there was an open space
perhaps half a mile wide. The jail was a stone structure of two stories
fronting south. A door entered the hall on the west side; from this hall
there was a stairway leading to rooms above. At the top of the stairway,
on the right, was a door into the room occupied by the jailer's family.
The jail yard was surrounded by a low fence and on the east side was a
well with a low curb around it. Two windows were on the south and one on
the east side, of the jail. The door to the room above referred to was
in the northwest corner near the head of the stairs. As the crowd
approached the jail and got inside of the fence, the guard of eight men
discharged their pieces over the heads of the mob and fled to the court
house. Then the mob commenced an indiscriminate discharge of firearms, a
portion of them rushed up the stairs, and a portion surrounded the jail
on the east and south and commenced firing. Those that had gone up the
stairs broke in the door of the room that has been described, where they
were met by Dr. Richards, who with a big cane struck down the guns as
they were presented. He was a man of immense size and was Joe Smith's
private secretary. There had been eight or ten Mormons in the jail, but
they all left that morning except Richards and Taylor. While Richards
stood at the door knocking down the guns with his heavy cane, bullets
were flying in at the south and east windows. Joe Smith faced his
assailants and fired five times upon them with his revolver, wounding as
many men. After the sixth barrel of his revolver failed to go off, they
rushed their guns through the door and he broke for the east window. As
he raised it a ball struck him under the jaw and came out above the eye
and another struck him under the right shoulder blade and went through
and lodged in the works of his watch in his left vest pocket. There is
where I found it. He was shot through the window from below. The effect
of these shots caused him to fall out of the window. After he struck the
ground he raised himself partly up with his back against the well curb
referred to, and one of the mob run him through with his bayonet and
twisted it off in his body. I counted thirty-six bullets in the wall of
that upper room. Hyrum lay very nearly under the bed in the southeast
corner of the room, dead with five bullets in his body. After the mob
knew that the prophet was dead and Hyrum also, it dispersed. Dr.
Richards, finding that there was still life in Taylor, who was lying on
the north side of the room, picked him up and carried him into his cell,
and there tore off his underclothes, dressed his wounds and he
recovered. ["]
I received the effects from the body of Joe Smith and turned them over
to his widow upon her giving me the following receipt: "Received,
Nauvoo, Ill., July 2, 1844, of James W. Woods, $135.50 in gold and
silver and the receipt for shroud, one gold finger ring, one pen and
pencil case, one pen knife and case, one pair of tweezers, one silk and
one leather purse, one small pocket wallet containing a note on John P.
Green for $50, and the receipt of Heber C. Kimball for a note of hand on
Ellen M. Saunders for one thousand dollars, as the property of Joseph
Smith. (Signed) Emma Smith." ["]
The place there was first called Venice, then Commerce and after the
Mormons purchased it and the land around they named it Nauvoo. The
temple was built on a bluff about three quarters of a mile from the
river in a little grove. The temple was built of limestone taken out of
the bluffs. It was a magnificent building, finely finished outside and
in; it had two pulpits, one in the east end and one in the west end. The
basement contained the baptismal font supported by twelve oxen carved in
life size. The font was about sixty feet in diameter, about eight feet
deep, and was supplied with water from a fountain in the building. The
twelve oxen on which it rested were carved out of solid limestone rock,
horns and all, and faced outward. They had the finest kind of English
artisans among them who did this work. The Mormons did not leave there
immediately after the death of Smith, and not until 1846. John Taylor
came up with a portion of them and wintered on the ridge about fifteen
miles below Eldora in Hardin County, and they came devilish near
starving to death that winter. They did not have the Salt Lake
destination in view before they started. They scattered about in
different directions. A large body of them wintered in Garden Grove in
Decatur County, a portion of them as I have said in Hardin County, some
in Davis and Appanoose counties, a large body went to Council Bluffs,
and to Gainesville. Polygamy was not publicly proclaimed as a feature of
Mormonism while at Nauvoo, nor I think until after their settlement at
Salt Lake, but it was said that Smith had introduced what was called
Spiritual Wifedom, which consisted in a man having a wife to be known as
his spiritual wife in addition to the ordinary one. Joe Smith was
particular in his taste in regard to female beauty, and sought those who
developed most fully both physically and intellectually; who would
naturally attract the opposite sex. Most of the prominent and
influential leaders, such as Orson Pratt, Parley Pratt, Isham Hyde,
William J. Wilson, Higbee, Dr. Foster and several others possessed wives
who, aside from Mormonism were beautiful, refined, well-educated ladies,
and it was charged by "The Nauvoo Expositor," which was
destroyed as I have related, that Smith selected or desired to select
his spiritual wives from this class, and that is what caused the
trouble. The husbands of the would-be spiritual wives were offended. ["]
I do not think Joe Smith was at heart a bad or wicked man, and you could
see from his face that he was not naturally an unkind one. But he was a
born ruler and when he made up his mind, they all had to obey. He was,
of course, an uncultured man that had never had the advantages of much
education, but from somewhere he had inherited great ability. This, it
appears to me, is shown by the fact that, claiming to be a prophet, he
founded a new creed or sect which has survived the contempts and
onslaughts of the whole world and spread itself nearly all over it. He
was a fine looking man. He has a son named after him, Joseph Smith,
Junior. * ["]
(*(Note). Joseph Smith, Junior, now lives at Independence, near Kansas
City, Missouri, and is the President and Head of the Reorganized Mormon
Church. They are anti-polygamists. I have seen him often riding on the
cars of the electric line between Kansas City and Independence, over a
part of which I daily traveled, myself. He is a large, broad-
shouldered, fine looking man, with an open, benevolent face, and would
attract attention anywhere. He is personally liked and highly esteemed
by everybody. He must be upwards of eighty years, according to Mr.
Woods. The Mormon Church at Independence has a large following, and the
Mormons constitute a large integral part of the population of that city
and vicinity; and it must be said that they are exceptionally good
citizens. They are industrious, thrifty, sober, law abiding, and attend
strictly to their own business. They have control of one of the banks,
carry on several industries and seem to have no paupers or criminals,
and consequently, cut but little figure in the courts. Since the
foregoing portion of the note was written, Joseph Smith has died in
1914, and is succeeded by his son, Frederick M. Smith as the head of the
church.) ["]
I want to say one word more about the Mormons. I think they have been
over-abused. Of course, there were some wicked men among them. This
would be but natural in a community of some twenty-four thousand people
gathered from all parts - for Joseph Smith showed his sagacity by
instituting, almost at the outset, a system of widespread proselyting.
This and the sort of refuge offered, naturally drew adventurers, as well
as religious enthusiasts, some of whom, as must be the case in every
hastily organized community, were bad men. I think I can say from close
personal observation that the rank and file of them were religious
enthusiasts who truly believed in this newly revealed religion, and I
think that among all the religions of the earth, that every religion is
true to the followers who truly believe it. ** ["]
(** (Note). I have given thus at length this narrative of Mr. woods,
respecting the Mormon episode, because it is closely interwoven with his
life, because it is the best exposition by an eye-witness, that has been
given of the stirring events leading to the final catastrophe, and
because it corrects the prevailing impression that it was wholly due to
the voluntary action of the outside public who had become incensed by
crimes committed by the Mormons. As I read the lines and between them,
such was not the case. Judge Mason, who word must be taken as a verity,
says that after the execution of the murderers of Miller and Davenport,
there were no crimes of moment committed by them, at least in Iowa, and
that a sense of security prevailed. As I interpreted it, the fire was
not kindled outside of, but within their lines, by the publications in
the Nauvoo Expositor referred to, and internal enemies of Smith. this
seems to be indicated by the fact that Dr. Foster and Higbee who are
among the leaders mentioned by Mr. Woods as having beautiful wives,
while Smith was before the magistrate at Carthage, fearing that the
charge made might not be sufficient to hold him, filed the additional
one of high treason, thus adding fresh fuel to the gathering storm that
was already near the point of breaking. To sum it up: There were
dissensions within; the newspaper publications referred to inflamed the
public without; and the climax was reached in the destruction of the
paper. If this had not been done, there would have been no riot, no
flight, and none of the fatal consequences that followed in their wake.) ["]
After a hard struggle Iowa City succeeded in getting the capital removed
to that place from Burlington The first session of Territorial
Legislature met there in the winter of 1840-41. There was only one
hotel, kept by a man named Butler, capable of accommodating guests. The
state house was a temporary frame build of two stories without any
committee rooms. The lower story was occupied by the House of
Representatives and the upper by the Council. There were two small rooms
at the head of the stairs, neither of which was oven ten by twelve feet
in dimension, one of which was appropriated by O. H. W. Stull, Secretary
of the Territory, and the other by the Governor as his private office. I
was then Secretary of the Territorial Council. The Council and House
were made up of men who had settled the country. Dubuque sent up among
others, Bainbridge and Verplank Van Antwerp, formerly receiver of the
Burlington land office. For want of something better to do, they started
a newspaper called the Iowa Capital Reporter. Bainbridge became involved
in a quarrel with Van Antwerp and the latter challenged Bainbridge. They
met in the Council room. Van drew a revolver but Bainbridge knocked him
down and took the revolver from him. Bainbridge returned to Maryland and
the last I heard of him, he was in Washington. In the Counsel were
Edward Johnstone, of Lee County, brother Governor Johnstone, of
Pennsylvania, and Governor Johnstone, of California, Gideon S. Bailey,
of Van Buren County, S. C. Hastings, of Muscatine County, afterwards
Chief Justice of Iowa, and later of the Supreme Court of California;
Shepherd Leffler, of Des Moines County, who was one of our Congressmen
after we became a State; George Greene, of Linn County, afterwards a
Judge of the Supreme Court; Barker, of Scott County; William H. Wallace,
of Henry County, afterwards a member of Congress from Oregon; Judge
Coop, of Jefferson County; Captain Jesse B. Brown, of Lee County. To
compare for a moment, salaries of then and now. That of the State
Treasurer was $400 per annum, that of our Judges, $1,500. ["]
At the organization of Butler County, Judge J. D. Thompson was the
Presiding Judge of the District Court. There were present at the first
term of court three attorneys, J. C. Fletcher and Mr. Brown, his
partner, and M. M. Trumbull, afterwards a General in the Civil War, and
later collector of Internal Revenue at Dubuque. He was also a member of
the Legislature from Butler County. I was retained in most of the cases.
The County was afterwards detached from Judge Thompson's district, and
annexed to that of Judge Murdock. Judge Murdock was succeeded by Judge
Elias Williams, of Clayton County, who was afterwards appointed one of
the Judges of the Supreme Court. ["]
We were attending court at Knoxville, with Judge McFarland on the bench.
The court held over into the second week. They extinguished all the
whisky there was in town the first week, except a little I had in my
hand-trunk, which was made especially to prevent anyone breaking into
it. I had it covered with calf-skin and a patent lock on it. Dan Finch
called it my "whisky safe." I always carried a little along
for the benefit of the judge. Judge Severs, Judge Knapp, D. O. Finch,
Marcellus Crocker and other lawyers from abroad were there, and they got
intensely dry and importuned me for what I had in my safe. As I wanted
to keep a little for the Judge, I refused to let them have it. Judge
McFarland occupied a lower room of the hotel. Judges Knapp and Seevers
occupied an upper one together. I got up one morning and found my safe
gone. I searched for and found it under Judges Knapp's and Seevers' bed,
with the jaws of it very much bent. I picked up one of Knapp's boots and
one of Judge Seevers' and took them out to the stable, got up on the hay
mow and forked a place down for or five feet in one corner and put the
boots in. When Knapp and Seevers got up they were each minus a boot and
each had to but a new pair. They were very man - and so was I. ["]
Governor Lucas was not a lawyer, nor was Governor Briggs. The latter had
been Sheriff of Jackson County, a member of the Legislature from there,
and was the first Governor of the State. Alfred Rich was a man of
brilliant talents. He died early of consumption. Nearly all the lawyers
of those days drank whisky, but only a few to hurtful excess. Judge
Mason, Judge Williams, Mr. Grimes, Mr. Parvin, Mr. Rorer and some others
were notable exceptions. Frederic D. Mills was a law partner of J. C.
Hall and could have had the position of U. S. District Attorney, and
went to Washington with a view of accepting the appointment, but when he
got there, he became fired with the Mexican War spirit and accepted the
position of Major in Colonel Morgan's Ohio Regiment. He was placed in
command of a battalion and was killed at the battle of Churubusco.
Captain, afterwards General Roberts, of the regular army, succeeded
recovering his body. It was badly disfigured, but Captain Roberts was
intimately acquainted with him and was able to recognize the body by
some peculiar features of it. General Roberts lived at Fort Madison and
afterwards moved to and died recently at Des Moines. ["]
In 1844 we fought the Constitution narrowing the western boundary of the
State. That boundary, as originally fixed, was much the same as now, but
Congress under the impression that all west of Des Moines was an
uninhabitable waste, reduced the western boundary, making it a short
distance west of Des Moines and between there and Adel. Dodge, Mason,
Henn, Clarke, Hall, Wilson and Jones all urged the adoption of the
Constitution with the limited boundary. The Whigs had opposed it on the
ground of introducing an elective Judiciary, which was new. Shepherd
Leffler, T. S. Parvin, Frederic D. Mills, Enoch W. Eastman, Edward
Johnston and myself got together and determined it would be a shame to
come in with such a limited boundary, and we concluded to oppose it with
might and main. We divided the State into three districts: Leffler,
Eastman and Johnston took the lower, Mills and myself, the center, and
Parvin the northern. We canvassed the Territory thoroughly. Mills and
myself rode sixty days and made from one to four speeches a day. James
Clark was Governor at the time and the last one of the Territory. He
married a sister of A. C. Dodge and was a partner of Cyrus Jacobs at the
time he was killed. He died with the Cholera at Burlington. ["]
About the Missouri War. I think enough has been said by Judge Mason and
along the line as to render anything from me, concerning that noisy, but
bloodless contest unnecessary. Yes, I knew Lincoln Clark. We elected him
to Congress. He was a man of fine ability. He was a near relative of
General Lincoln, after whom he was named. ["]
W. J. A. Bradford was the first Reporter of the Supreme Court. * (* Note
- This is an error in one sense. Charles Weston was first appointed but
very soon resigned to accept the position of United States District
Attorney. He reported no cases.) He published in 1840 and 1841 three
pamphlets of reports which were afterwards appended to and embraced in
Morris' Reports. He was the son of that Bradford, who was for many
years, Secretary of State of Massachusetts. He came to Burlington in
1836. He was an old bachelor of about forty-five or fifty years of age.
He would weigh from 110 to 115 pounds and was about five feet and two or
three inches in height, with a very small chin and nose. He was a
walking encyclopedia of law and had read everything. He was succeeded by
Easton Morris. ["]
Judge Joseph Williams was a man weighing about one hundred and sixty to
one hundred and eighty pounds, about five feet, ten and a half to eleven
inches in height. He had a fair, rosy complexion, mild brown- gray eyes,
and a good head of hair. He was an able and very versatile man. He was
fond of music and could play upon almost any kind of an instrument. And
he could sing. I have heard him sing many of the old Scotch songs. ["]
S. c. Hastings was a man over six feet in height. He went to and became
prominent in California. ["]
Judge John F. Kinney was an Ohioan by birth. He was a fine looking man
and possessed a great deal of personal magnetism. He made a good Judge
of the Supreme Court. He was a candidate for U. S. Senator, but was not
successful. ["]
Henry W. Starr was a very able lawyer, and in all respects, a very
brilliant man. He was very witty and liked a joke, as the following
instance will show: Grimes and Starr were partners. Grimes was Governor
and had written a letter to William L. Marcy, Secretary of the United
States, with regard to Missouri River navigation and the Kansas
troubles. Starr and myself happened to be at Hall's office, and Starr
concluded to have some fun with Grimes by answering his communication in
the name of Marcy; this he did and mailed the letter to Grimes. It was
so completely done and so much like Marcy's peculiar style, that it
completely deceived Grimes, and they had a good deal of amusement. ["]
Delazon Smith - "Taylor's lost Minister to South America." He
was so called by reason of the fact that when a recall was sent to him
he evaded it for three years. He was a man of splendid talents and of
such striking and amusing characteristics that he soon became known
throughout the State. He was not a large but a well-built man, of rather
full habit and fine physique. He resembled Augustus Hall (brother of J.
C. Hall), though he was really not as able a man. Smith was a natural
orator, very eloquent and very fluent and ready. He was a lawyer by
profession and if he had devoted his attention to it he would have been
very eminent in the law; but he was a natural politician, and a very
aggressive one. He was a regular actor on the stump, always amusing and
sometimes dramatic. He would sometimes quote from memory while speaking
extracts from the speeches of Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton and others.
His power of ridicule was great, as the following instance will
illustrate: At the time Daniel Miller and William Thompson ("Black
Bill") ran for Congress he was induced to become an independent
democratic candidate. He made a speech at Montrose during the canvass.
He said in dramatic style, "Send Bill Thompson to Congress! What of
it! What then? He will sit there like a knot on a wet spruce log. Send
Dan Miller to Congress! What of it? What then? He will be like a wet
wick in a tallow candle. Send "Delusion" Smith to Congress!
What of it What then? $2,500 mileage in his vest pocket. It is no longer
"Delusion" Smith. It is the Honorable Delazon Smith, M. C.
from Iowa, receiving gilt-edged notes from Dodge, Jones & Co. Plays
hell! Turns up Jack!! Makes High, Low, Jack and the Game!!!" He
acquired the two titles of "Delusion" and the "Lost
Minister" by evading his recall. ["]
Stephen Hempstead succeeded Ansel Briggs as Governor, and he made a good
one. He was rather tall and spare, about my height and build; Judge hall
passed me off for Governor Hempstead among the Quakers of Salem when we
were there one time. He was tasteful in his attire, and generally wore a
snuff-colored coat and white vest. I was intimately acquainted with him.
He was a man of talents and a good jurist. He stood among the foremost.
I think he was originally from Connecticut but came from Missouri to
Iowa. He lived at Dubuque. He was very amiable and very popular with his
party. He was altogether a very charming man. His brother was a member
of Congress from Arkansas at one time. ["]
There were two years after Iowa became a State in which we had no
Senators in Congress, because the Whigs and "Possums" were not
strong enough to elect and the Democrats would not combine. the
"Possums" held the balance of power. The Possum Party grew out
of the trouble over the title to land embraced in the Half Breed Tract.
There were a hundred and ninety thousand acres, including the towns of
Keokuk and Montrose. The Wisconsin territorial Legislature at the
Belmont session had appointed three commissioners to partition and allot
the shares. There were 101 shares, the most of which fell into the hands
of New York speculators. Suit was brought by the New York claimants to
recover the lots which in the meantime had become settled upon. The
settlers claimed title, and the question became a political one. The
settlers had a majority and were known as the "Possum Party." As before stated they held the balance of power and we had no Senators
in 1846 to 1848, when A. C. Dodge and George Wallace Jones were elected. ["]
James Morgan came to Burlington when Lucas was appointed Governor. He
was a lawyer, but never practiced. He was a newspaper man. He first
started the Burlington Telegraph. the first paper was the Burlington
gazette. there was a paper published at Fort Madison called The Patriot.
I had been publishing a paper there called the Echo of the Prairies. I
sold my paper to Dr. Galland; he sold out to James G. Edwards, and
Edwards moved the Patriot and the Echo of the Prairies presses to
Burlington and established the Burlington Hawkeye. Morgan afterwards
established the telegraph as above stated, but it later became merged in
the Hawkeye. Morgan was a prominent politician. We sent him to the
Legislature from Des Moines County several times. He was a very able
editor. He never wrote long articles, but short, pungent paragraphs. He
was quite a prominent figure in Democratic politics for some years, and
had great influence. He died quite a good many years ago. He had sandy
hair and florid complexion. ["]
M. D. Browning came to Burlington in 1837. He was a man who had read
well and was very original. He had a peculiar faculty of great honesty
in appearance towards a court and jury - of apparent candor. He had the
faculty of seizing the strong points of a case and hurling them, so to
speak, at the jury. He was not a polished but a strong man. He was a
tall, dark complexioned, grave appearing man. His eyes were rather
large, dark and deeply set. Hs eyebrows heavy and black, his head rather
large, high and somewhat bald. He was a brother of O. H. Browning, of
Quincy, Lincoln's Attorney-General. He married a daughter of Judge
Brown, of Kentucky. ["]
Augustus Hall was a man of about five feet and ten inches in height,
rather full in body, heavy in the shoulders. He had light almost sandy
hair, very florid complexion and wore mutton chop whiskers. He was a man
of fine culture, an eloquent and polished speaker and an able lawyer. He
did not much resemble his brother, J. C. Hall, in appearance, the latter
being a much larger man. But he was much more scholarly. ["]
Judge Grant was going to hold court in Cedar County. He and some lawyers
were jogging along on the way there. They were too slow for him. He told
them he was going up to hold court and for them to hurry. They replied
that they did not think there would be any court until they got there as
they would be the only lawyers in attendance. The Judge spurred his
horse and when he got to Tipton opened court (John P. Cook was the clerk
of the court at that time) and called the docket. There was not a single
attorney there to respond. Judge Grant said, "Adjourn court sine
die," mounted his horse and rode off. He met the attorneys about
three miles out and said to them, "There is no use of your going
there, court is adjourned." And it was adjourned. This instance is,
I think, very illustrative of the up and down character of Judge James
Grant. ["]
The following instance will throw some light on the way lawyers did: E.
W. Eastman and a lawyer by the same of Thurston were partners. they were
defending two men for passing counterfeit money. they had $160 in good
money and $280 in counterfeit money and a shot gun to pay their
attorneys with. They put the good money in one pile and the counterfeit
and the shot gun in another, and Eastman gave Thurston his choice of
piles for his share. Thurston took the shot gun and the counterfeit
money, and passed every cent of it afterwards, to Eastman said. Thurston
was a very brilliant lawyer. He went to Oregon, was sent to Congress,
and was returned the second time but died on his way to Washington. ["]
William Penn Clark was a candidate for Senator and held the balance of
power; but James W. Grimes induced him to withdraw by having him
appointed Reporter of the Supreme Court. Fitz Henry Warren at this time
was opposing Mr. Grimes although a member of the same party. ["]
Orson P. Hyde was a leading Mormon, a very able man and an eloquent
speaker. I heard him preach and I think but few could excel him in some
of his oratorical flights. ["]
V. M. Pendleton came from Kentucky. He was a lawyer of considerable
ability, but never engaged actively in practice. He married the daughter
of a Dr. Chamberlain. At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he attempted
to recruit a company for the Southern cause, but only succeeded in
recruiting himself. He entered the army of the Southern Confederacy and
was killed fighting for the lost cause. ["]
George P. Stiles came to Iowa in an early day. I first met him in 1851.
He was a large man with a fine physique and much magnetic influence. He
was a good scholar, an able lawyer and a strong advocate. He ultimately
settled at Council Bluffs. He was appointed in 1855 by President Pierce
as one of the Supreme Judges of Utah. He subsequently went to Colorado
and was twice Mayor of Denver. ["]
Of Ben Samuels I will briefly say that he may be properly placed at the
head of the bar of his time and has never been excelled as an orator or
lawyer. He married a daughter of Dr. Mason, a highly refined lady. He
had a brother in Jackson County who was also a lawyer. He married a
daughter of Ballard Smith, who, for many years, represented the
Greenbrier District of Virginia in Congress. Mrs. Samuels was a scholar
of mine when I kept school in Virginia, and I remember her as a most
lovely girl. ["]
Platt Smith I knew well. When I first met him he was engaged in rafting
lumber from the Pineries down the Mississippi River. He had some trouble
with his crew, and called upon Ralph P. Lowe, of Muscatine, for advice;
the result was Judge Lowe advised him to read law, which he did and was
admitted to the bar, where he immediately took first rank. If he had
been educated, I have no doubt he would have been the ablest lawyer and
advocate in Iowa; as it was no one ever got away with him. He was a man
of large frame, but rather rough and unsocial in his manners. He turned
his attention to railroading in the latter part of his life and
accumulated quite a fortune. ["]
Bernhart Henn came to Iowa in 1838 from mineral Point, Wisconsin, with
General A. C. Dodge as Clerk in the Register's office for the land
district at Burlington of which Dodge was Register. He remained with
Dodge until 1841, when he went into my office as a student at Burlington
and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He never attained high rank at the
bar. He had plenty of ability but no inclination for the profession. He
was thoroughly acquainted with our public land system and was Register
of the Land Office at Fairfield for a number of years and represented
that district in Congress for several terms. He was a man of sound
judgment and applied himself faithfully to the interests of his
constituents while in Congress. His colleague was John P. Cook, of the
Davenport District, who was a Whig. Henn was a Democrat. He was of
medium size but of good personal appearance. ["]
John R. Woods, my brother, came to Iowa in 1838 from Massachusetts and
became the Clerk of General Verplank Van Antwerp, Receiver of the
General Land Office at Burlington, and continued in that position until
1841. He then became a law student in my office, was admitted to the bar
in 1842 and immediately commenced practice. He was elected Clerk of the
County Commissioner's Court, and died in this position in August, 1844.
He was a young man of great personal popularity, and gave promise of a
brilliant career at the bar. ["] The
foregoing includes only the narrative drawn from the interviews I had
with Mr. Woods, which were taken down at the time by my stenographer, as
before stated. Subsequently and independently of this, I obtained from
him additional valuable data in the form of letters, and written
communications upon which I have frequently drawn in the course of my
work. While he may have possibly made mistakes in minor details, in the
main he will be found correct. Standing as he did, the last
representative of his time, his statements come with vivid interest in
respect to men he had intimately known and events of which he had been
an eye-witness, and the only one left. This kindly old man manifested the most lively interest in my work and aided me in every way possible. To him, my readers as well as myself, are greatly indebted. By reason of his great age, the breadth of his observation, his wonderful memory, his gifts as a raconteur, his cheerful nature, his kindly heart, he was certainly a most interesting character, that one might well wish to live alway. Blessed be his memory! I join these men [George G. Wright and Joseph C. Knapp] because they were very near to each other and associated as law partners for many years. Judge Wright was one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Iowa during most of the time I was its Reporter, and from this and other associations, I came to know him intimately. He died in 1896. For more than half a century his name had been a familiar one, intimately associated with the progress and current history of the State. The mature years of his long and busy life were devoted to its interests with a purpose as steadfast as it was heroic. He was not only one of the most widely known men of the commonwealth, but one of the most popular. He had been a favorite with the people throughout his entire career. The causes for this general popularity lay in his intrinsic character and make-up. In appearance and bearing, he was very attractive. He walked with a limp owing to a defective limb, but notwithstanding, his figure was good, his face classical, his countenance always beaming with good will. He loved the pioneers, the old settlers, and they were always at ease with each other. He delighted in the narration of early events; his memory was extraordinary and he was able to recognize and never failed to greet any man with whom he had had the least acquaintance. This faculty greatly facilitated the renewal and continuance of his early acquaintances. He frequently delivered addresses to and about men of the early period, and especially those related to Van Buren County. As instances, he delivered one before the Library Association of Keosauqua in 1856, and another before the Pioneer Law Maker's Association of Van Buren County, in 1872, in the course of which he went into the minutest details respecting the early settlements and settlers in that county - giving the names of the different pioneers, the dates of their coming, just where they settled, their course of life, and in many cases the names and dates of birth of their children. These narrations, like all his others, were interspersed with incidents and anecdotes which were interesting to know. These qualities brought and kept him very close to men of the early time and their descendants. He was exceedingly affable and always approachable to the humblest citizen. He had reflected deeply and comprehensively on the affairs of the world and was an excellent judge of human nature. He was so full of pleasantry and good nature that I do not believe anyone ever engaged in a conversation of any length with him without being told some apropros anecdote or incident that would provoke a smile and give a pleasant impression. It will be readily appreciated that these combined qualities made him greatly beloved by the people, and they were always ready to rally to his support. There was no office within their gift that he could not have obtained for the asking. Indeed, he did receive at their hands the highest honors of the State. For fifteen years he was a Judge, and a portion of the time Chief Justice of its Supreme Court; then its United States Senator. In respect to the latter position, he had a most formidable rival in the person of William B. Allison, who for so many years subsequently represented Iowa in the United States Senate with a distinction which rivaled that of any of his compeers in that body. The only objection I had to Judge Wright was the character of his handwriting, which was the most difficult chirography that I have ever beheld. In digesting his opinions, while preparing my head notes, I had often great difficulty in ascertaining what he had written. These opinions, too, were written in his best and most legible style and were not quite so bad as some of his more hastily prepared productions. He sent me many years ago for my use in this work, quite a lot of hastily written memoranda, which after repeated efforts to decipher, I gave up as impossible. As a summary of his personal traits: In public affairs he was extremely cautious. He was not a bold and aggressive leader of men. His popularity was wholly due to other sources. His good humor and cheerfulness were perennial. His attractive person, his still more attractive, finely lineated face carried a ray of sunshine that enlivened all surroundings. His manner was urbane and graceful, and "on his unembarrassed forehead, nature had written 'Gentleman.'" He was, in short, one of the most lovable of men; he drew everybody to him. As for myself, my affectionate veneration was such that I dedicated to him my "Digest of Supreme Court Decisions," published in the early seventies; and on the occasion of his death, made a plea for a statue to his memory in a communication addressed to and published in the Des Moines State Register of January 24, 1896. As a Judge, he has had few equals and no superiors in the history of the Supreme Court of the State. His numerous decisions constitute one of the principal bases of its jurisprudence and will serve to perpetuate his judicial fame throughout all its future period. His associates on the bench were John F. Dillon, Ralph P. Lowe and Chester C. Cole, and it was this rare judicial array that principally contributed in giving to the Supreme Court of Iowa the distinction throughout the entire country of being one of the very strongest in the land. Among these it goes without saying, none was more conspicuous than Judge Wright. He possessed those four qualities which Socrates declares to be the requisites of a judge: To hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly, and to decide impartially. His published opinions are models of unaffected wisdom and force. With no attempt at learned display, they grasp with all the force of reason the naked points of controversy and trenchantly carry them to lucid conclusions. Nothing that I can say of him as a judge would furnish as reliable an estimate as that contained in the following letter of that great lawyer and judge, John F. Dillon, to the Pioneer Law Makers' Association, read at its reunion of 1898: "I esteem it one of the felicities of my professional career that I was associated for six years with Judge Wright on the Supreme Court bench of the State of Iowa. It is scarcely necessary for me to express my opinion of his learning as a lawyer, and his merits as a judge. No difference of opinion on this subject, so far as I know, ever existed among the bar and the people of Iowa. The verdict of the bar on this subject is that, take him all in all, he had no equal among the state's chief justices of judges in her judicial history. Some of them may have had, in special and exceptional lines, superior gifts, or superior learning, but as I have just said, take him all in all, he easily stands conspicuous and foremost. To those who served on the bench with him, and to the bar who practiced during the period of his long connection with the court, the reasons for this are not difficult to find. I may refer to some of them briefly. "First among these reasons may be mentioned his zeal and conscientiousness in the performance of his official duties. As Chief Justice he was always present; and, having control of the deliberations of the Court, would never consent to adjourn any term until every case which had been argued or submitted was considered. The period of my association with him was when there was no rule requiring the records and arguments to be printed. They were mostly in writing. Judge Wright was a rapid and most excellent reader; and his invariable habit during our consultations, in all cases submitted, was, first, to take up the argument of the appellant; read it; next the argument of the appellee; then any reply, referring to the record whenever necessary; then to insist on a full discussion and a vote. I believe I may safely affirm that no case was decided during these six years that I was on the bench without this 'formula' having been complied with. No case was assigned, previous to full consideration among the judges, for examination and an opinion by a single judge. I verily believe that the admitted excellence of the judgments of the judgments of the Supreme Court of Iowa during the period of Judge Wright's incumbency of the office of Chief Justice, is due to the course of procedure above mentioned. "Another characteristic of Judge Wright was his intimate knowledge and memory of the legislation and course of decisions in the State. He was a living digest of these decisions. He carried in his memory every important case that had ever been decided, and thus kept the lines of judicial decision consistent. "As a presiding officer he was without any equal. He had remarkable executive ability. He presided with dignity; maintained the utmost decorum in his court, and yet no member of the bar, I believe, ever felt that he was exacting, oppressive, or that he in any way encroached upon their legitimate rights and privileges. He had almost in perfection what I may call the 'judicial temperament.' He showed absolute impartiality, had great patience of research, and above all, a level- headed judgment, and strong, sure-footed common sense. Combining these merits and qualities with ample learning in his profession, it is no marvel that the bar of Iowa hold him and his memory in such deserved honor." His miscellaneous reading had not been wide; his acquaintance with English or classic literature, slight. None of his compositions are adorned with decorative drapery. I do not think that in any of his writings can be found the employment of Latin or other foreign phrases, save in those terms and expressions which have been preserved in the law; but they are none the less forceful, and often traced in elevated lines. His notions concerning the judicial office were of the highest order. Perfect independence of the judiciary was his ideal, and when a portion of the press joined in a denunciation of the judges, one of whom was Judge James G. Day, who united in the opinion of the Supreme Court, declaring what was known as the prohibition amendment to the Constitution void, it made him indignant, though he was not then on the bench. Stirred with this feeling, he wrote me the following letter, which clearly reveals his views on the subject: " Des Moines, May 2, 1883. I feel privileged in saying that to this I made the following reply: " Ottumwa, May 3, 1883. Judge Wright was born in Bloomington, Indiana, 1820, and graduated from the University of that State in 1839. He studied law with his brother, Joseph A. Wright, who was at one time, Governor of Indiana, and afterwards United States Minister to Germany. He was admitted to the bar in 1840, and during that year came to and commenced the practice of his profession in Keosauqua. In 1844 he formed a partnership with J. C. Knapp, under the firm name of Wright & Knapp, which continued till his removal to Des Moines in 1865. In 1847 he became Prosecuting Attorney for Van Buren County; in 1848 he was elected to the State Senate and served in that capacity two terms; in the fall of 1850 he was nominated by the Whigs of that district for Congress, but it had a clear Democratic majority, and his opponent, Bernhart Henn, was elected. In 1853, when General George W. Jones was re-elected to the United States Senate, Wright was nominated by the Whig caucus and received the vote of the Whig members of the General Assembly. He was then but thirty-three years of age. In 1855 he was elected as one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the State and served until 1859, but declined a renomination. In the following summer, 1860, however, he was appointed by Governor Kirkwood to fill the vacancy on that bench, occasioned by the death of Judge Stockton. At the end of that term, he was re-elected for a term of six years from the first of January, 1866. In January, 1870, he was elected to the United States Senate for a full term commencing march 4, 1871, in consequence of which he resigned his place on the bench. In the Senate he served on the important committees of judiciary, finance, claims, the revision of the laws and on Civil service and retrenchment. In the performance of these duties, he won a high position in that distinguished body, but at the end of the term, absolutely declined a re-election. He was elected in 1860 President of the State Agricultural Society and served five years in that capacity. While in Keosauqua, Henry C. Caldwell was added to the firm of Knapp & Wright. While in Des Moines, at the close of his term in the Senate, the judge became a member of the firm of Wright, Gatch & Wright, composed of himself, his son, Thomas S., and Colonel C. H. Gatch. In 1881 the firm was composed of Judge Wright, his sons, Thomas S. and Carroll Wright, and A. B. Cummins, afterward Governor and United States Senator. In the fall of 1865, after he had removed to Des Moines, he, with Judge C. C. Cole, established the first law school west of the Mississippi River. After the first year, Prof. W. G. Hammond, afterward Chancellor of the Law Department of the Washington University of St. Louis, accepted a position with them, giving his entire time to the school. In 1868 the law school was removed to Iowa City, and became the law department of the State University, Judges Wright and Cole becoming law lecturers of the department. He took great interest in this work; his last lecture before the department was in June, 1896, and in it he referred with pathetic eloquence to his co-workers of the past, who had been his associates in laying the foundations of the State. In 1879 he was elected a director in the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad Company. The State is not only indebted to him for wise decisions moulding its jurisprudence, but for introducing into its early laws beneficent measures that have been enduring. He prepared and introduced both the bills which passed into laws, abolishing imprisonment for debt, and the creation of homestead exemption. Among the sons of Judge Wright were three who became eminent lawyers.
Thomas S. Wright was General Counsel for the C. R. I. & P. Railway
Company. He died suddenly, while on a visit to New York some years ago.
Craig L. Wright went from Des Moines to Sioux City and formed a partnership
with William L. Joy. This firm continued to be one of the strongest
legal firms in that part of the State for many years. This son died
at Los Angeles in 1915. Carroll Wright, who died many years ago, was
the General Attorney from Iowa of the C. R. I. & P. Railway Company. |