CHAPTER XVIII
Soon after
the Huff residence was established
Mr. T. J. Shaw put up a store building
and put in a stock of goods; the building
on the same section with Huff. Mr.
Shaw afterwards filed on a part of
Section 14, in Gilman, and in 1872, put up
a store building in the town of St. Gilman
(now Ashton) and moved his stock there. Shaw's
store was the first store in the county, and
in it in 1871, the old settlers used to congregate,
and if we had a record of all their doings,
and the stories there told, our readers would
be highly entertained. Every blizzard would
find about so many who happened to be at the
store, and unable to get home. In one of the
blizzards there were several old settlers
caught there, among whom were Dr. Gurney,
August and C. Thompson, W.
A. Spencer and others. They took their
horses in the store except one of them, and
this they put into the railroad tank near
by. This was not in the days of prohibition,
and the boys had plenty of the ardent, and
hence quiet a jollification. One of them was
preparing a pan of biscuits for baking while
the others were watching the operation, when
Shaw declared that his mother always
striped biscuits when she made them, and these
must conform to the parental custom, upon
which he brought his foot down on the soft
dough, giving them the required stamp, when
they were pronounced ready for the oven, and
in they went. When the settler got to Shaw's
store he generally tarried awhile, talked
over the news of the day, smoked a clay pipe
and sat around on the barrel heads, and of
the old settlers there were several there
at all times during the day and evening. In
April, 1871, Joseph Reagan with Uriah
Cook, Jacob Henshaw and some others who
settled in Lyon County, came to Osecola County
from Madison County, Iowa. They went to the
“Huff” house and through
the services of our first settler secured
claims. Mr. Reagan filed on a part
of Section 20, Township 98, Range 42, now
Gilman Township, and Uriah Cook filed
on the same section Huff was on. Mr.
Reagan still lives in the county, is
one of the prominent men in Ashton and its
postmaster. Mr. Cook now lives in Montana.
Reagan and party
arrived at Huff's on the 8th day of
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April, 1871. Their outfit consisted
of five wagons, twelve horses and mules and
six head of cattle. Each of the wagons had
occupants sleeping in them on the night of
the 8th, and early on the morning of the 9th
a terrible blizzard set in, and these wagon
sleepers were soon covered with snow and crawled
out and into a house. The next day they took
the wagons and formed a half circle of them
at the south side of the house, making a corral,
in which they put their horses and then tied
the cattle to the wagons on the outside. This
storm lasted two days, and the company, consisting
of about twenty men, women and children, filled
the house, and at night it taxed the ingenuity
of all to arrange the packing. Along with
the inmates already named, there were three
dogs and forty chickens, so that the time
was not passed in Quaker silence, and everybody
was in everybody's way, though all were jolly.
The first night all were packed around systematically.
Huff and his wife were placed in the
northeast corner, then came Henshaw
and his family, then the chickens and the
rest of the crowd as they could be accommodated.
The end where the horses were was considered
unsafe, as the pressure against the boards
was liable to break them is, so that Reagan,
C. M. Brooks and Uriah Cook were
assigned to that part of the shack to counteract
the pressure from the outside.
The morning of the third
day was pleasant, and each went their way
to their separate claims. C. W. Freeman
came to Gilman township in June, 1872, and
settled on the northeast quarter of Section
8. He came from Humboldt County and with him
came F. E. Cook, J. W. Carson and Will
Smith. These four took section 8. Mr.
Carson died in January, 1883, and his
popularity and his large circle of friends
in the county justifies a reproduction of
the following from January 24, 1883, number
of the Osceola County Review, then
published at Ashton:
“IN MEMORIAM
“James
W. Carson was born in Batavia, Genesee
County, New York, February 16, 1833. When
about thirteen years old his parents, leaving
their eastern home, became pioneers in the
then Territory of Wisconsin. A wonderful tide
of immigration was pouring into the newer
states and the territories bordering the Mississippi,
and two years later, when Mr. Boyd Carson,
the father of the subject of this sketch,
removed to West Oregon, Dane County, Wisconsin
had become a state. The father was one of
the hardy pioneers of
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the olden time, who, without
the help of railways and modern conveniences
of travel, made the long and tiresome journey
to the frontier lands, and laid the foundations
for prosperous communities and states. He
is described as a man of sterling integrity
and fine Christian character, and James
W., the son, inherited from his father
a high regard for what was true and pure in
religious life. James, or “Kit,”
as he was popularly called by settlers old
and new in this county, of which he was one
of the first pioneers, grew to man's estate
and was industriously employed in trade or
farming, but the agitation of the slavery
question and the disloyalty of the South,
leading to the civil war, he early in the
rebellion enlisted in the Second Wisconsin
cavalry, and earned the merit of being a good
soldier, but incurred hardships and injuries
which laid the foundation of the disease which
has taken him away, to the grief of his family,
the sorrow of his friends, and the loss of
the community. After the war, and soon after
his marriage, he removed to Humboldt County,
this state, where he remained two years. In
1871 he, in company with F. E. Cook
and C. W. Freeman, removed to this
county and located homesteads in Gilman Township.
During his twelve years residence in this
county he formed a wide acquaintance. The
hold he had on the hearts of the settlers
was well attested by the crowd that turned
out to his funeral on the bitter cold Wednesday
of this week. People gathered in from the
three counties of Osceola, O'Brien and Lyon—one
family driving fully ten miles across the
country. Sheldon sent a large delegation and
quite a number of old soldiers, bringing choice
flowers and wreaths for the grave. Kind neighbors
and comrades of both Sheldon and Sibley army
posts served as watchers from the time—early
Tuesday morning—that his remains reached
Ashton from Minneapolis, where he died early
on Monday—the immediate cause of his
death being his inability to withstand the
shock to his system, induced by an operation
performed by surgeons at a hospital in Minneapolis,
removing a large and bony-like tumor under
the arm in the left side, which had developed
until it reached the region of the heart.”
In 1871, Nick Boor,
along with John Streit and William
Shultz, landed in Gilman Township. They
came from Wisconsin, and drove through with
a team. Nick filed on the southeast
quarter of Section 4, Township 98, Range 42,
Streit on the northeast quarter of
the same section, and Schultz on the
northeast quarter of Section 18. Mr. Schultz
lives at Sheldon, and Boor and Streit
still live in Gilman Township.
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C. C.
Osgood came in 1872, and settled in Gilman
Township on the southwest quarter of Section
30. Mr. Osgood still lives on the same
place, has weathered all the difficulties,
and is a successful farmer.
Mr. William Foster
settled in Gilman Township in 1872, on a part
of Section 14. Mr. Foster died a few
years ago, and his widow with her sons still
live on the old homestead.
Ephraim Miller,
in 1871, located on the southwest quarter
of Section 26, Gilman Township; still owns
the land, and still resides in the township
on land he has since purchased.
Of these 1871 and 1872
settlers in Gilman Township but few remain
in the township now. As far as we can learn
they are Joseph Reagan, Nick Boor, John
Streit, Ephraim Miller, C. C. Osgood and
the Foster boys.
In the spring of 1873,
J. E. Townsend, along with his brother
George, came to Gilman Township from
Michigan. George returned soon after
and J. E. filed on the north half of
the northwest quarter of Section 8, upon which
he still lives with his family and has other
land afterwards purchased. J. E. Townsend
is now County Treasurer. This same year, 1873,
also, Fred Poschack came from Wisconsin
and filed on a part of Section 6, upon which
he still resides. Other parties living in
this township came in the years following
these first settlements, and quite a number
are renters. Among others of the farming people
in Gilman Township, Mrs. John Nuff
resides on Section 1; also on the same Section
John Rabe. M. A. Schend was
an old settler in Lyon County and now lives
on Section 2 in Gilman Township. On Section
2 also Mr. Frank Waslrich and John
Barbien. On Section 3 John Thorn;
on Section 4 Joseph Dries, Anthony
Geiver and also Mr. Streit; on
Section 5 Jacob Johannes; on Section
6 Fred Poschack, Matt Spartz, John Seivert,
B. Sturber and B. F. Pettingell.
Mr. Pettingell is a Yankee from Massachusetts.
Warren Robbins is on Section 7; Henry
Shaa, Joseph Ehlen, besides J. E. Townsend
on Section 8. Of still other residents of
the county Joseph Dries, Jr., is on
Section 9; also Matt Seivert and William
Fuger; R. Linzen, Jacob Leinen, William Fuger
on Section 10, Peter Kappes on Section
11; Thomas Cox and Charles Winters
on Section 12. The town of Ashton is on Section
15 in this township and on Section 18 we find
Henry Arends, W. Popkes, H. Lenitzens,
and Mr. DeGroat. On Section 20 lives
Rev. Mr. Nolte, a Quaker preacher;
also C. W. Conner, Mr. Conner
is a prominent
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citizen
and was a member of the County Board of Supervisors.
George Jamison also lives on Section
20. Mr. John Jackley and Isaac Smalley
are on Section 21 and B. H. Lyman and
J. C. Wilmarth on Section 22. Wm.
Keith and Wm. Craig live on Section
23; Nick Seivert, Nick Leinen
and Phillip Grats on Section 24; on
Section 27 lives Mr. Charles Lingleman
and C. Groendyke; Mr. Ruben Heritage
and James Sturgeon on Section 29, and
on Section 30 is the old Iselin place
improved by these boys John and Harry
who came from New York with money but made
a failure in business. Nels Porter
and S. Laber are on Section 32 and
C. Beck, Charles Huntsley and
James Bunce on Section 34, with R.
J. Stemm on Section 35. Gilman Township
is one of the best and finest improved townships
in the county and is well settled.
Referring again to Goewey
Township, quite a number still live in the
county who were among its earlier settlers.
In May, 1871, George Perry, along with
his brother John and W. A. Spencer,
landed here, having drove through from Wisconsin.
George settled on a part of Section
10, John on a part of 14, and W.
A. Spencer on Section 24. T. E. Perry,
father of John and George, came
in the fall of 1871, and resided here until
he died, July 14, 1890. The boys used their
wagon covers and wagons for awhile as a habitation
until they got something built for a house.
Their first load of lumber was hauled from
Windom, Minn., and the two Perrys,
along with Spencer, went after it.
On the road they overtook a traveler on foot
who accepted an invitation to ride. When they
got to Worthington, which was then starting
as a town with only a few shacks, the traveler
got a quart of whiskey, and brought it around
to treat the rest of them. Spencer
not being a drinking man, declined to take
any, and the fellow soon went away by himself,
and about as the boys were starting on, came
around again drunk as a lord. Pointing to
Spencer he said, if that man had drank
his share I wouldn't be tight, raising a question
in moral philosophy whether or not after all
Spencer was to blame for the man's
drunkenness. After this first lumber hauled
from Windom, they afterwards hauled from Cherokee.
On one of George Perry's trips he drove
through the Orange City settlement, which
was composed mostly of Hollanders, and with
these people wooden shoes being principal
commodity,they were well stocked and the shoes
were conspicuously displayed. George Perry
bought a pair for himself and also a pair
for his wife, more for the novelty of it than
anything else. His wife saw
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him coming home and as usual
walked out about a mile to meet him. George
made a little speech to her about the elegant
foot gear he had seen, and thinking she needed
a pair he had invested for her, and presented
to her the pair of wooden shoes. After that
Mrs. Perry let her liege lord reach
the house before she greeted him. She preferred
to take her surprises in the way of presents
at home.
Clark Perry, another
brother, came in the fall of 1871, and settled
on the southwest quarter of Section 10 and
still lives on the original claim.
John Perry now
lives on the claim originally taken by his
father, and George lives in Sibley.
W. A. Spencer
resides in Sioux City; he has a son, however,
C. A. Spencer, now residing in Goewey
Township on Section 22.
In June, 1872, T.
M. Spencer, a brother of W. A.,
came from Wisconsin and took the northeast
quarter of Section 23. He has lived in the
county since, except one year during the grasshopper
period he worked in Cherokee. Mr. Spencer
now lives in Ocheyedan; his sons, Charles
A., and E. E., live in the same
town, while another son, O., lives
in Sibley.
G. L. Van Easton
also settled in this township in 1872, and
is still the owner of the land upon which
he settled. He is now in the lumber business
at Little Rock. John Gray, another
settler of 1872, lives at Ashton. Among other
of the 1872 settlers now living in this township
are George Barrager, Louis Folsom, James
Ford, E. Ellis, Robert Edwards, George Spaulding,
who still resides in the township, came in
1871, and also the same year James Hollands.
Mr. Hollands now resides in Sibley.
W. L. Daggett, now living on Section
36, also came in 1872. Mr. E. Elling
and J. C. Inman, who, we think, are
on Section 34, are also early settlers. Mrs.
Clarinda Baker, who is also an early
settler, resides on Section 30. Her husband
was gored to death by a bull several years
ago. In addition to those mentioned, among
the early settlers in the township we find
D. G. Crippen, Henry Hoffman, Alexander
Gilkerson, George Haskins, Frank Finley, P.
F. Jones—Mr. Jones, was one
of the early settlers of 1872—Nelse
Christensen, W. H. Winney, P. O. Gillis, A.
Bronson, John St. Clair, John Christensen,
Henry Pollman, P. N. Folkers, D. Irish, T.
Stephens, Mr. Brandt, the Johannes
brothers, Walter Philips, W. P. Reeves,
I. Brandt, C. Crumb, P. Foley.
Peter and Andrew
Sherbonda, who are still living in the
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township on Section 6, settled
there in 1872. B. F. Curtis, who settled
on Section 34 in 1872, now resides in Sioux
City. Charles Bangert, living on Section
19, is at present one of the County Board
of Supervisors. W. R. Foster lives,
we think on Section 20, and Lent on
Section 21. In referring to these present
residents, there will no doubt be some omissions,
as the writer has gathered several townships
from inquiry.
COURTS
There was
in 1872 a District Court, and also a Circuit
Court, both being courts of record. Their
jurisdiction was about the same, except that
the District Court had exclusive criminal
jurisdiction, and the Circuit Court had exclusive
probate jurisdiction. Both districts comprised
several counties, of which Osceola was one.
The first term of the
Circuit Court was held in Osceola County in
1873, with Hon. Addison Oliver presiding.
The first case on the calendar seems to have
been Jacob Franz & Co. vs. F.
L. Ward, and the case was continued. John
H. Douglass was then Sheriff and John
F. Glover, Clerk. The following attorneys
seem to have figured into the business of
that term: H. Jordan, J. H. Swan and
James T. Barclay.
The record does not show
any litigated cases, owing, perhaps, to the
fact that the attorneys were not numerous
enough. Everybody seemed to get judgment in
what cases there were. The next term of this
Court was held in December an din 1884 the
State Legislature abolished the Circuit Court,
leaving the District Court as the only Court
of Record.
The first term of the
District Court, Hon. Henry Ford presiding,
was held at Sibley in July, 1872. The record
makes mention of the fact that it was the
first term of any Court of Record held in
the county. The officers were: Judge, Henry
Ford; District Attorney, C. H. Lewis;
Clerk, C. M. Brooks; Sheriff, Frank
Stiles.
The record states that
C. I. Hill, C. W. Blackmer, H. Jordan
and J. T. Barclay were present as members
of the Sibley bar, and Sioux City attorneys
as follows: L. Wynn, W. L. Joy, O. C. Treadway,
H. B. Wilson and J. H. Swan. The
first case on the calendar was L. F. Diefendorf
vs J. H. Winspear and others. The action
was to restrain Winspear, Frank
Stiles and others from building school
houses. The injunction was modified, and in
September following, in vacation, Diefendorf
dismissed the action, and the school houses,
under the direction of Winspear, Stiles
and others, went on in
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construction.
This term of court lasted two days and consisted
principally of a few judgments, there being
no criminal cases and no jury, either grand
or petit.
The next term of the
District Court was held in April, 1873. The
same officers were present, except that John
H. Douglass was Sheriff and John F.
Glover Clerk. District Attorney C.
H. Lewis stated to the court that there
was an irregularity in drawing the grand jury,
and asked that the precept be set aside, which
was done, and the court then ordered a new
precept to issue, which was issued, and the
following were the first grand jurors of the
county: H. G. Doolittle, B. A. Dean, J.
L. Robinson, E. Morrison, J. I. Halstead,
A. M. Culver, N. Thompson, J. Slecht, H. Babcock,
J. W. Kerr, T. J. Cutshall, Charles Mandeville,
R. F. Kinne, D. L. Riley and O. Dunton.
Frank Stiles and F. M. Robinson
were held to answer to the grand jury from
a preliminary examination before a justice,
and upon inquiry to these parties as to challenge,
Stiles challenged Riley and
Dunton. H. G. Doolittle was
chosen foreman, and the jury was instructed
and charged by the court. The record then
says, after being charged by the court they
retired to consider upon their duties. There
is no further record as to this grand jury,
or the case against Robinson and Stiles,
so that we are left to conclude that the grand
jury are still out considering their duties,
and Robinson and Stiles are
still waiting in doubtful apprehension of
an indictment.
The first civil case
tried in this court was H. Jordan vs.
J. H. Winspear, and the nature of the
case is not disclosed. A jury was had, which
was the first petit jury in the county, and
was composed of the following named members:
J. McKinney, H. Reeves, C. W. Wyllys, Thomas
B. Jackson, W. H. Morrison, S. W. Lang, G.
R. Helmoly, A. Buchman, C. Anderson, C. T.
Torey, Joseph Kappes and George Taylor.
Jordan was defeated in his suit, and
retired at an expense of $13.30. Several individual
judgments were rendered, and Osceola caught
it to the tune of $14,851.12 from several
different parties, altogether aggregating
that amount.
It is not necessary to
follow the record of these courts further;
the only desire is to show something connected
with their first terms. We might add, however,
that the first person naturalized in the county,
was John R. Robertson by Judge Ford,
and the first estate to be probated was that
of Patrick Baker, deceased.
We also omitted to state
that the only litigated case in
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the first term of the Circuit
Court was that of G. Toun vs. Sioux
City and St. Paul Railroad Company, in which
case J. T. Barclay was attorney for
plaintiff and J. H. Swan for defendant.
The jury was as follows: H. L. Baker, C.
Manderville, J. W. Collman, E. E. Headley,
S. Cram, C. W. Wyllys, Daniel Busbu, Frances
F. White, Thomas B. Jackson, George Fablinger,
H. F. Manderville, Lewis Cole. Barclay
carried off the honors of the victory, and
obtained a verdict for seventy-five dollars
and costs at the first trial; but the clever
and tenacious Swan, who knows but little
of the word defeat, appealed the case to the
Supreme Court. It is said that when a lawyer
gets beaten in a case he either appeals, or
goes down to the tavern and swears at the
court, and in this case Swan appealed.
We have now only a District
Court, comprising Woodbury, Sioux, Lyon, Osceola,
Plymouth,Monona, O'Brien, Cherokee and Harrison
Counties. Within this Judicial District are
four Judges, who agree among themselves as
to the time and place each shall hold. The
Judges are: George W. Wakefield, of
Sioux City; Scott M. Ladd, of Sheldon;
Frank R. Gaynor, of Le Mars, and A.
Van Wagenen, of Rock Rapids. These Judges,
all of them being members of different political
parties, are men of unquestioned integrity,
of ability, learned in the law, and preside
with a desire to hold the scales in equipose
and do justice to all. Will Thomas
is Clerk of Court in Osceola.
JUSTICES
Justices'
courts were in running operation before there
was held a court of record. The office of
Justice of the Peace, says Judge Conklin,
is of somewhat remote origin, having been
first instituted in England, it is said, as
early as the time of William the Conqueror.
The office was introduced into this country
by our forefathers on their first settlement
here, so that the people are accustomed to
these courts and have them.
At the 4th of July meeting
in 1871 nominations were made for Justices
of the Peace.
The first year of the
county organization the Justices were as follows:
H. L. Clapsaddle, O. Dunton, Frank Stiles,
D. F. Curtiss and J. H. Winspear.
Since then others have
been elected and retired, and the Justices
of the county in 1892 are as follows:
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| Holman—D. L. McCausland
and E. Walton. |
| Ocheyedan—A. E. Smith and
R. J. O. McGowan. |
| Harrison—Charles Mietke
and E. L. Krukenberg. |
| Baker—Dirk Frey. |
| Wilson—R. S. Eakin. |
| Fairview—Thomas Jackson. |
| Gilman—Joseph W. Reagan. |
| Horton—W. R. Bolilng. |
| Goewey—W. J. Reeves. |
Other District officers are,
John F. Stamm, Sheriff, and T. P.
May, Deputy.
There are often many
amusing things occur in justice courts, and
in the early days of Osceola County there
were many here, but the records have not preserved
them, and the lawyers who still survive them
are reticent, while others who wre in practice
here then, have gone and some have died. Among
the justices at an early day was W. R.
Boling in Horton Township—in fact,
he is now justice. An action was brought before
him of ejectment, and was between _______
Wassmann and G. B. Garvey. McCallum
brought the suit for Wassmann, the
trial was set for January 2 at nine o'clock.
McCallum, the Sheriff and his deputy,
Webb, with McCausland, started
over from Sibley, starting at three o'clock
in the morning, and at daylight the thermometer
was twenty-six degrees below zero; but they
were going to a law-suit, and the stimulus
of the coming contest kept them warm—for
we wouldn't for moment intimate that anything
else contributed to their comfort. P. R.
Bailey, of Sheldon, was to be McCallum's
opponent, but the distance to go and the early
hour was too much for him, so he staid at
home. The parties were all there in season,
and a jury was called, whose qualifications
were inquired into, and Mc found that
all of them were quite satisfactory. The trial
commenced and proceeded, the testimony was
in and McCallum was making his argument.
Just as Mc commenced, Jack Blair
and A. V. Randall arrived, and Blair,
seeeing a chance for a little fun, went on
top of the one-story building, laid a sack
over the stove-pipe, sticking up through the
roof, and sat down on it. The stove had just
been replenished with soft coal, and in an
instant the room was filled with black, sulphurous
smoke, but Mc kept on until Webb
went to shaking the stove-pipe to make it
draw, when about twenty links of pipe, filled
with soot, came suddenly down on the heads
of the jurors, the litigants, the court and
the counsel, when all beat a hasty retreat
out of doors, and there was such
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a similarity in appearance,
that it was hard to tell one from the other.
They found out, however, what the trouble
was, re-adjusted things and went at it again,
but Blair's escape saved him from a
fine for contempt. The case lasted all night,
and at six o'clock the next morning, the jury
were led off to a school house by Sheriff
Lent for the purpose of deliberation,
and were out some time before they returned,
and when they did their verdict was for Wassmann.
The court room for the purposes of the trial
was Seymour Coyour's shack, and while
the jury were out McCallum, Randall, McCausland
and Webb “turned in,” as
the sailors call it, that is all four of them
went to bed together, and while they were
snoozing quietly, Blair appeared again
and laid a hogh's head carefully between Randall's
head and McCallum's, which woke Mc
up, and himself and what was left of the hog
were staring at each other, for their countenances
were in close proximity. The trial ended with
a judgment for Wassmann, and then followed
an execution to collect the costs. There was
nothing in sight to levy on but some potatoes,
and these were hardly in sight, for they were
buried in a pit under the ground. The Sheriff,
however, armed with the usual process, went
out to Garvy's place, took a man with
him, and spent nearly a day digging into frozen
ground and finally into the pit, but the potatoes
were missing. Upon a closer examination there
was found to be another hole on the other
side of the pit from where the Sheriff had
excavated, where the debtor had stole a march
on the expected execution, and removed his
potatoes to other quarters.
Since writing the above,
A. V. Randall denies the four in a
bed, and the pig's head story so far as he
was concerned, and states that he was a member
of the jury.
In 1873, Charles Brannock
who lived near the Ocheyedan and who was like
most of the settlers, hard up for something
to eat, had caught some kind of an animal,
probalby a muskrat and after skinning it was
cooking the carcass on a fire out of doors.
In an unfortunatemoment the prairie grass
caught fire,a nd soon the fire was spreading
in ever direction. Brannock was arrested
and bound over. He was allowed to remain at
home to get bail, but the next day the fury
of the people demanded his incarceration and
Sheriff Douglass was ordered out with
the necessary papers. In order that the arrest
should be a compelte success, quite an army
volunteered to go along and did on horseback,
armed with Winchesters, so that their going
presented quite a body of cavalry and they
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soon reached Brannock's
cabin and the terrified fellow was ordered
to surrender which he did. He asked leave,
however, to go inside and change his clothes
and once in, crawled out of a back window
and by cautiously creeping at first and getting
in the grass he made his escape. There were
some who understood his condition of poverty
and his peaceful and law-abiding disposition
and who felt that while the act was a violation
of the law, still it was not malicious nor
intended; these wanted him to get away and
we suspect that Douglass was one of
them. They waited for his return in changed
suit, and when sufficient time had elapsed,
and investigation was made and it was found
he had escaped. Some one, a friend of Brannock,
said that he just saw him going over the hill
towards the south, and away went the cavalry
flying after him; when that hill was reached
the friend said he saw him going over the
next one, and on went the horsemen in furious
follwoing, and thus for several miles they
were led, and this with searching took up
about the whole day. In the mean time Brannock
had started north while the searchers were
still searching he was safe in Minnesota,
as only a few miles travel was required to
get there.
D. D. McCallum's
first case was before a Justice of marked
morality, who was extremely harsh with criminals.
His weakness was his veneration for veterans
of the late war, all of whom he esteemed as
unrewarded heroes. McCallum had fought
four years. His client was a thief. “The
only thing I can do for you,” said McCallum,
after having gained the man's confidence,
“is to implore the mercy of the court.
When you get on the stand tell the whole truth.”
The man had stolen a
cow, killed it, sold the hide and took the
carcass home to his family, which was really
suffering for the necessaries of life. The
prosecution, with a long line of witnesses,
had made a perfect case, and the brow of the
Justice was draped in ominous frowns when
the prisoner was called. The latter did as
directed by his attorney, concealing nothing—from
the almost starving condition of his wife
and family to the dressing of the stolen beef.
“Now, your honor,”
said McCallum, “the defense has
no witnesses. My client is guilty. He has
hidden nothing from this court. It is the
first time he has ever transgressed the law.
He was inspired to do wrong by that instinct
we even admire in brutes.”
Then, turning to the
prisoner as if the fact had nearly escaped
him, McCallum said:
-172-
“By
the way, you were a soldier in the late war,
were you not?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Weren't you at
Gettysburg?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So was I. And you
were in other historic battles, fighting for
your country, while your wife and family suffered
at home?”
“Yes, sir.”
The prosecution at this
point saw the way the case was drifting, and
attempted to ridicule the “old soldier
defense,” as the prosecuting attorney
named it.
The effect upon the old
Justice was to arouse all his loyalty and
indignation.
“Enough of this,”
said he, bringing his hand down on the desk
in front of him with a thundering thud. “No
soldier, no man who shed his best blood for
his country, not even if he be a criminal,
can be reviled in my presence. The prisoner
is discharged. And, sir, when you are suffering
for the necessaries of life again, come to
me.”
The joke was too good
to keep. McCallum one day told him
the old soldier was an ex-Confederate; but
never again did McCallum practice in
that court.
