St. Clair County, Illinois - Chapter 8 (2 of 2 so headed), 1928

Chapter 8

"iRST Lawyer to practice the profession in Illinois, hence the first in St. Clair County, was John Rice Jones. He was born in Wales, February lo, 1759. He received a thorough classical education and studied law in England. He was a good linguist, being well-acquainted with Greek, Latin, and French, besides the English. His sound logical mind also enabled him to become an excellent mathematician, and he preferred mathematics to any other science. He was, in fact, an accomplished scholar, and with his thorough preparation soon became a scientific and profound lawyer, and throughout his life he was an able and enlightened expounder of the law. In 1780 he came to Philadelphia and practiced law there a few years. In 1787, the year the Northwest Territory was organized, he located in Vincennes. In 1788 he assisted William Biggs in effecting a release from captivity with the Indians and returning to his family at the New Design settlement. In 1790 Jones left Vincennes and settled in Kaskaskia, which was then in St. Clair County. In f<ict that was the same year the county was organized. He was a man of strong passions which sometimes swept over his reason like a tornado. His friendships were ardent and sincere, and his hatred and anger were excessively scathing for the moment. When his feelings of ire were excited, his words burned his victim like drops of molten lead on the naked skin. He was mild and amiable until some injury or insult was offered him, then he burst asunder all restraints and stood out the fearless champion of his rights, bidding defiance to all opposition. He practiced law in important cases at different times in various courts of the western country. At Louisville, Ky., Vincennes, Indiana, and later, in many of the courts of Missouri. In 1810 he left Illinois and settled in St. Louis. The remainder of his life was spent in Missouri, and he finally became a member of the Supreme Court of that state.

His decisions in the Supreme Court were always much respected by the bar and the public. He died in St. Louis in 1824, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. On his death bed he said he "did not desire to live any longer, as he could be of no further service to his family or his country, and might be a source of trouble if he should live longer." He was perfectly resigned to his fate and died with that calm composure which naturally attends the exit of that "noblest work of God," an honest man. In person, Judge Jones was small, but erect and active. His complexion was dark and his hair and eyes very black. When excited, his eye was very severe and piercing. His integrity and honor were above suspicion. He was exemplary in his moral habits and lived a temperate and orderly life in all things. He left a large and respectable family, and several of his sons have held important offices in the country. One of them became a United States Senator from Iowa.

It seems proper here to give a brief sketch of his oldest son. Rice Jones. He was a young man of great ability and promise, educated for the medical profession but afterwards changing to the law, he had finished his legal education and began the practice of law at Kaskaskia while his father was located at that place. He entered the field of politics and immediately attained a position of leadership in his own party. Party spirit raged in Kaskaskia at that time with a violence scarcely equalled at any time since. Young Jones caught the mania and became excessively zealous. He had been elected to the Legislature, and reaching such a position of prominence at so early an age, he naturally aroused the jealousy of some other politicians. A controversy, growing out of politics, arose between him and Shadrach Bond, who afterward became Governor of Illinois. A duel was arranged for as a means of settling the matter. The two men, with their seconds, met on an island in the Mississippi between Kaskaskia and St. Genevieve. When they had their positions, but before the signal to fire had been given, Jones' pistol, having a hair trigger, went off by accident. Dunlap, the second of Bond, said that was Jones' fire and that now Bond should be permitted to fire at Jones. But Bond, with that greatness of soul that appeared in all his actions, said, "It was an accident." Then after some friendly discussion, Jones and Bond settled their controversy without further appeal to arms, and went away friends. But a bitter quarrel arose between Jones and Dunlap. This controversy waxed warmer and more malignant until at last Dunlap shot Jones on the public streets of Kaskaskia. Jones was standing in the street talking with a lady when Dunlap came up behind him and shot him dead with a pistol. This horrible murder shocked the community and to some extent quieted the party feuds for a time. This murder occurred in 1809 when Jones was in the twenty-eighth year of his age. Dunlap escaped to Texas and was never punished by the temporal courts.

Isaac Darnielle

ISAAC DARNIELLE In the year 1794 Isaac Darnielle arrived in Cahokia, and remained m the west for several years. He practiced law, having settled m Cahokia six years later than John Rice Jones came to Kaskaskia, and was therefore the second lawyer who practiced in the courts of Illinois. He was a classic scholar and was in person very genteel, with agreeable and polished manners. He was large and portly and always made it a point to be extremely neat in dress, and very attentive to his personal appearance. The material for this sketch was taken from Governor Reynolds' account of Mr. Darnielle, and the Governor seems to pride himself on being a sort ot scripture biographer, who tells the whole truth about his subject, whether it is complimentary or not. He says that Mr. Darnielle studied all the arts and mysteries of gallantry, and thereby made a deep and lasting impression on his lady friends. Rumor said that he had been educated in Maryland for the ministry, but that his gallantry was too strong for the proper observance of gospel precepts. It was even said that he studied the ladies more than he did the law. It was also rumored that he had been in charge of a church as pastor for some time, but one day took French leave of his congregation, and next appeared in Cahokia. He possessed a strong intellect, and was well disciphned in things intellectual. With these advantages, it did not take him long to gain a fair knowledge of the law. He was an easy agreeable speaker and made a fine personal appearance. These qualities made him conspicuous and popular as a professional barrister. The courts and juries of that day were not remarkably wellversed m technical learning and therefore he could practice his profession with easy confidence before these tribunals. He was said to be rather indolent except in the pursuit of the pleasures of gallantry, and in this pursuit he spared neither time nor effort. When in a frenzied state of love for a married lady of Cahokia, and the lady in the same deHghtful state of mind, they took a snap judgment on the husband and escaped to Peoria, where it is said they "lived on love" for many years, while the husband, instead of pursuing them, remained in Cahokia in sullen silence. It is claimed that, altho this gentleman had numerous love affairs, yet he never married according to the laws of Illinois. It was also rumored that he left a married wife in Maryland who was an obstacle to a second marriage in this country. He had no malice or bitterness m his composition, but seemed to believe that the summum bonum, according to his philosophy, was an easy, luxurious life. He was moral and correct in his behavior, except m the one point above referred to.

He never indulged m drinking or gambling, but frequently slept all day and made the evenings extend all night in the sight or hearing of his "terrestrial angel." At one time he was the beau ideal of Cahokia. His talents, his gay and graceful manners, together with his penchant for this sort of life, m some measure justified his being called the "Lord Chesterfield" of Cahokia. As long as he retained his youthful vigor and vivacity, this sort of life passed off very pleasantly, but when old age crept upon him and his former pursuits were abandoned from necessity, he suddenly found himself an old man without sincere friends or means of support. In his old age he went to Kentucky and engaged m teaching school. He died in i8jo.

Benjamin H. Doyle

BENJAMIN H. DOYLE Benjamin H. Doyle, an Attorney-at-Law, emigrated from Knox County, Tennessee and settled in Kaskaskia m the year iSo'?. He practiced m the courts of both St. Clair and Randolph Counties. He possessed good natural qualifica' tions and would have made a good lawyer if he had given more attention to study. He was appointed Attorney-General, but resigned the office m 1S09 and left the country.

James Haggin

JAMES HAGGIN James Haggin was born in Kentucky and emigrated to Illinois in 1804. He settled near Kaskaskia and built a house in the wilderness, as it was then, several miles from town, and the head of Gravelly Creek. He practiced law for some years in the courts of both Randolph and St. Clair Counties, and was a very promising young man. He then went back to Kentucky, where he eventually reached a position of considerable promise.

John Rector

JOHN RECTOR John Rector located in Kaskaskia in 1806. He opened a law office and practiced in the courts of both counties. He belonged to a prominent family among the early settlers of Illinois. He practiced his profession for a few years attending court both m Kaskaskia and Cahokia, and then left the

William Mears

WILLIAM MEARS William Mears was the first attorney who made Cahokia his permanent residence after Darnielle. He came to the village in 1808 and commenced the practice of law. He was born in Ireland in 176S and after receiving his education in his native land, came to America. He landed in Philadelphia and taught school for some years in Pennsylvania. At the age of forty he decided to go west, and came into Cahokia as if he had dropped from the clouds, without a horse, books.

letters, surplus clothes, or anything except himself, a mther singular and uncouth looking Irishman. He had read law while he was teaching school, so he was now ready to enter upon the practice of his profession. He possessed a strong mind and a retentive memory, and by close application and severe study, he acquired a profound knowledge of the law, and was intelligent and well-informed in other lines also. He was appointed Attorney General for the Territory of IlHnois in 1814 and made an able and efficient officer. When the county seat was moved to Belleville, he changed his residence to that place and made that his home for the remainder of his life. He died in 1824.

Samuel Davidson

In 1809 Samuel Davidson, a lawyer from Kentucky, came and settled in Cahokia. He was a decently behaved young man, and generally correct in conduct, but did not exhibit much force of character or make much impression on his fellow citizens in the ancient county seat. He wrote a beautiful hand, which seemed to be the chief of his accomplishments. He taught school for a time in Cahokia and made a living that way, since his services as a lawyer did not seem to be much appreciated. At the beginning of the War of 18 1 2, he entered the military service and held some office in the Quartermaster's Department. Soon after the close of the war he left Cahokia and Illinois.

Russell Heacock Gustavus Koerner

Russell Heacock began the practice of law in St. Clair County in 1808. Cahokia was the logical place for a lawyer at that time, since it was the county seat of the oldest and most important county in the state. A fews years later he married a lady from Jonesboro, a new settlement farther south than Kaskaskia. He then moved to that place for a few years, but either because the demand for legal advice was not sufficient there, or else he wanted to get into a smaller town, he moved to Chicago. We are told that Chi' cago did not have more than one hundred people as late as 1830. Here he acquired a considerable amount of property while it was cheap and afterward became wealthy. GUSTAVUS KOERNER

Of the many prominent citizens who have claimed the city of Belleville as their home, perhaps none has been more highly honored than Gustavus Koerner, who lived there for more than sixty years.

He was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in Germany, November 20, 1809. He was educated at the Universities of Jena, Munich, and Heidelberg, graduating in law from the last named in 1831, at the age of twenty -two. Two years later it became necessary for him to leave his native country because he had participated in a petty political insurrection which had for its aim the enlargement of the liberties of the common people. This movement was doomed to failure from the start, because large standing armies are not overthrown by resolutions, however eloquent they may be. After its failure, those who had participated were subject to arrest and imprisonment. So Mr. Koerner remained in hiding for some time with some of his friends, and then, dressed as a woman, and in company with his sister, Augusta, he passed the gates of Frankfort without being recognized and escaped to France. He was joined here by his college friend, Theodore Engelmann, who had also taken part in the uprising. They reached Havre just as the Englemann family were about to sail for America, as emigrants. He joined the group of emigrants and they reached New York June 17, 1833. Here in the Marine Court of New York City he registered his intention to become a citizen of the United States. Many others of the party did likewise among whom were Frederick Engelmann and his son, Theodore, Henry Abend and John Scheel, all of whom afterwards became citizens of St. Clair County.

It might be stated here that before they reached New York young Koerner and Sophia Engelmann, Theodore's sister, were engaged to be married. This plan was carried out in 1836, after the young man's financial outlook was such as to justify his assuming the responsibiUties of a family.

In order to secure admission to the bar in Illinois he attended a law school for a year at Lexington, Kentucky. In June, 1835, he successfully passed the examination before the Supreme Court in Vandalia, which was then the capital of the state. Having had a thorough university training before he came to America, being able to speak fluently either English, French, or German, having great native ability, and a patriotic love for his adopted country, he soon became a very popular citizen and at once stepped into a position of leadership in his own city and state. In the presidential campaign of 1840 he spoke at public meetings in all parts of the state. After their vote was cast, the presidential electors of Illinois selected him as their messenger to carry their vote to Washington, D. C. His journey from Belleville to Wash' ington took fourteen days of continuous travel. That was twice as long as it would take now to go from Belleville to London. While he was in Washington, Governor Reynolds, who was then a member of Congress, but Koerner's fellowcitizen in Belleville, introduced him to President Van Buren, John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun,

Henry Clay, and Thomas H. Benton. To meet these famous men was a great privilege to a rising young lawyer and one that he very much appreciated. During his career in the law at Belleville, he was for some years a member of the firm of Snyder, Koerner and Shields. When political appointment and death had dissolved this iirm, he formed a partnership with William H. Bissell, who afterward became Governor of Ilhnois. At another time he was the law partner of Colonel William R. Morrison. In 1852 he was elected Lieutenant- Governor of Illinois, and served a term in that office with the Hon. Joel Matteson as Governor. He was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln. Early m the Civil War days he was instrumental in getting Ulysses S. Grant appointed to a position in the army of Illinois, which gave him a chance to start on his wonderful military career which made him the most conspicuous figure in the nation after the death of Lincoln. President Lincoln was anxious to appoint Judge Koerner to some position of honor and trust under the gov ernment. He offered him a place in the United States Supreme

Court. But at that time the salary of the supreme Justices was so small that Mr. Koerner felt that it would not be sufficient to support his large family in Washington City, where living has always been expensive. So he was compelled to decline the honor. Later the president appointed him United States Minister to the Court of Sp.iin. He accepted this appointment, and while there wrote a book on "Spain," giving excellent descriptions of her great buildings and art works. He is also author of several other books and numerous pamphlets on various subjects. He was also a success on the lecture platform, and he was one of the founders of the Belle ville Public Library. His home life was beautiful. His wife travelled the journey of life with him for fifty-two years. She and five of their eight children preceded him to the spirit world. Then after eight more busy years here, he too passed on, April 9, i8q6, having spent eighty-seven years in this world, of which more than sixty were patriotically devoted to the land of his adoption.