Decatur County, Indiana - Chapter 9: Bench and Bar, 1915

Chapter 9: Bench and Bar

The judicial history of Decatur county falls into two periods, namely, the period of the old constitution, 1822-1853, and the period following. The constitution of 1852 made a marked change in the judiciary of the state and subsecjuent amendments to the constitution (1881) and statutory legislation have made still further changes. Under the Constitution of 1816 the supreme court of Indiana and the president judges were elected by the state Legislature ; where as the present Constitution provides for the election of all judges by the people. The old Constitution divided the state into judicial circuits and placed over each circuit what was known as the president judge. At first there were only three circuits for the fifteen counties of the state then in existence. Each county elected two judges, known as associate judges, and these, with the president judge, had jurisdiction over all the civil and criminal business of the respective counties.

The president judges, as well as the associate judges, were elected for a term of seven years. The clerk of the common-pleas court was elected for a like term. These judges served both as common-pleas and circuit judges, and, in the case of Decatur county, had charge of most of the probate work, as well. The records disclose only two probate judges, these serving during the decade following 1839. These two probate judges were Angus C. McCoy, 1839-43, and John Thomson, 1843-49.

The president judges who held court in Decatur county from 1822 to 1853 were as follow: W. W. Wick, B. F. Morris, Miles C. Eggleston, Samuel Bigger, James Perry, Jehu P. Elliott, George A. Dunn, William M. McCarty, Reuben D. Logan, Jeremiah M. Wilson, William A. Cullen and Samuel A. Bonner. Associate judges during this period were : Martin Adkins, John Fugit, John Bryson, Zachariah Carton, John Thomson, John Hopkins, Samuel Ellis, Richard C. Talbott and George Cable.

Beginning in 1853, there were separate common-pleas and circuit judges until 1873, in which year the common-pleas court was abolished by the Legislature. As near as can be ascertained from the record, the following judges served on the common-pleas bench during these twenty years: Royal P.

The jurisdiction of the circuit judges of the district including Decatur count}' has been changed a number of times by the Legislature and has at various times covered Franklin, Henry, Rush, Shelby and Bartholomew counties in the ninth judicial circuit. Since 1899 Decatur has been united with Bartholomew county for judicial purposes. The following circuit judges have presided over the district, including Decatur county: William M. Mc- Carty, 1853; R. D. Logan, 1860-65; Jeremiah Wilson, 1865-71; William A. Cullen, 1871-77; Samuel A. Bonner, 1877-89; John W. Study, 1889-93 (Study died in office and his unexpired term was filled by James K. Ewing) ; James K. Ewing, 1893-95; John D. Miller, 1895-98 (died in office); David A. Myers, 1898; Douglas ]\lorris, 1898-1901 ; Francis T. Hord, 1901-04; Marshal Hacker, 1904-10; Hugh D. Wickens, 1910-1916.

A Mystery Of The Olden Days

Considerable mystery lurks about the cause of the death of Judge Martin Adkins, one of the first two associate judges of the county. Adkins died in 1841, at Cincinnati, where he had gone with a drove of hogs. At the time he was under indictment for shooting "Dick" Stewart, his son-in-law, with intent to kill. He had been tried once and the jury disagreed, one juror, it is said, holding out for his acquittal.

His employees brought home a coffin, which was interred, without being opened, in the old Mt. Moriah cemetery. This rather peculiar circumstance gave rise to two rumors, one that he had committed suicide in order to evade the ends of justice and the other that his reported death was untrue and that he had left for parts unknown. The exact truth, which might have been in a measure ascertained, by exhuming the coffin, was never known.

Enemies of Free Masonry charged at the time the jury disagreed that Adkins, being a Mason, had been saved from the penitentiary by a member of the organization, who was on the jury. There was at that time no Masonic lodge in Greensburg, but Levi .\. ]McOuithy, who was a juror, was a Mason.

John Fugit, the other member of the original court of associate judges, was a native of Virginia. He was tall and thin, with broad shoulders and an eye as bright as an eagle's. When his six years on the bench were o\er he served one or two terms as a justice of the peace in Clay township. He had three sons who attained local eminence. Hugh was an attorney at Milford; James L. was a justice of the peace and later deputy sheriff and Isaac W. was also an attornej', and served for a time as postmaster at St. Paul, this county.

Hopkins, one of the associate judges at the time the office was abolished, was foreman of the first grand jury which convened in the county, was first county treasurer and was a charter member of the Kingston Presbyterian church. His parents wished to prepare him for the ministry, declaring that he was a born theologian. He was a Democrat of the Jackson-Benton school and believed in hard money. He cared little for popularity and had he played politics, might have reached a high place in the affairs of Indiana.

Early Murder Trials

One of the most famous murder trials ever held in Decatur county was that of James Wiley, who was convicted in June, 1869, o^ the murder of Joseph Woodward, and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was pardoned after serving ten years and died soon after his release from the penitentiary.

Wiley killed Woodward in a fight at Milford, in November, 1868, when Republicans were celebrating the election of Grant. Hiram Alley received a two years' sentence for complicity in the crime. Judge George H. Chapman, of Indianapolis, occupied the bench at the trial. The verdict was returned after an hour's deliberation.

One of the most famous murder trials that ever came before the Decatur county bench was that of Jacob Block and Elsa Block, brought here from Rush county upon a change of venue. The Blocks, father and son, were Hebrews and were charged with the murder of Eli Block, a Hebrew merchant and a business competitor. The Blocks spent large sums of money in providing for their defense and an imposing array of legal talent was gathered at the Decatur county court house when the case was tried.

The case was tried before Judge James C. Hiller, of Indianapolis. Jacob Block, the father, had been previously tried at Rush county and had been found guilty of murder in the first degree, but the higher courts had sustained a motion in error and ordered a new trial. He was represented by Daniel W. Voorhees, while the son was defended by Charles H. Blackburn, a famous Cincinnati criminal lawyer. Both were sentenced to two years in the penitentiary.

Stepping-Stone To Congress

One of the early cases tried in Decatur county courts is related by Oliver H. Smith in a series of articles in the old IndianaJHilis Journal on "Early Indiana Trials." The case was tried before Associate Judges Fugit and Adkins, in 1823. The case was against a man who had refused to work tw(j days on a school house, as provided by law. James T. Brown defended the man and Mr. Smith appeared for the school commissioner.

Brown facetiously raised the point that his client was not ablebodied, although he was over six feet tall and proportionately broad. Judge Fugit ruled thus :

"Yes, ]\Ir. Brown, that is the point - you plead well on that, but it is nothing but the plea of a lawyer; you admitted that the man who stood before us was your client, and the court will take notice, 'fishio,' as the law books say, that he is an able-bodied man and no mistake; judgment for two dollars."

Smith says that he received his fee of five dollars and always after had Decatur county's undivided support \\-hen he was a candidate for Congress.

When counties in southern Indiana were organized and for many years thereafter, members of the legal profession were few in number, but were usually men of striking personality and great force of character. There were two terms of circuit court a year and lawyers followed the presiding judge on his rounds, taking whatever business came their way.

Consequently, it is not surprising that when the first meeting of the Decatur county circuit court was held, April 9, 1822, several attorneys were on hand to ask for permission to' practice their profession in this court. The old county records show that three lawyers were admitted to the Decatur county bar on this date. They were Thomas Douglass, Joseph A. Hopkins and Seth Tucker. Beyond swearing in a county clerk and the appointment of Joseph Hopkins as prosecuting attorney, the court transacted no business. When the October term began, October 7, two more attorneys sought and received admission to the bar. They were James T. Brown and Charles H. Test.

Nothing is known of Douglass, beyond the original entry, showing that the first court held in the county gave him permission to practice his profession in Decatur county. Tucker's record has also been lost, but it is presumed that he subsequently located permanently in some other county.

Hopkins, the first prosecuting attorney, soon fell into disrepute and left the county. He was a native of Kentucky and had practiced law there before coming to Indiana. He left the Blue Grass state "under a cloud," and apparently did not mend his ways when he settled in the new state. He died in Illinois. He is said to have been a brilliant man and an excellent lawyer.

James T. Brown was the first Greensburg lawyer to attain prominence. He was quite eccentric, but possessed a very saving sense of humor. His jokes and anecdotes made him a very interesting character. After practicing in Decatur county for a good many years he located at Lawrenceburg, where he died soon after the war. Brown was a bachelor and lived to a ripe old age. It is said that he was retained in almost every case of importance that was tried during his residence in this county. He was without political ambitions and gave his whole heart to his practice.

Andrew Davison, third resident member of the bar, came from Penn- S3'lvania and was admitted to practice in 1825. He was a learned, technical lawyer; and it is said that as a pleader, in the professional sense, his superior never appeared at the Decatur county bar. His efforts were brief and direct and delivered in a most forceful manner.

Chance played a large part in Davison's selection of Greensburg as a location. He was educated for the ministry, but after his graduation from Franklin College, Pennsylvania, he decided that he would study law. Upon being admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, he departed for a horseback trip through Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, seeking restoration of his health. While upon his return trip his jaded steed dropped, completely exhausted, at Greensburg. Finding a considerable colony of Presbyterians there he cast his lot with them and soon rose to eminence in his profession.

Davison was elected a member of the supreme court in 1852 and was re-elected in 1858. He was defeated for a third term in 1864 and never resumed active practice. The only other public office he ever held was the postmastership at Greensburg, given to him when Andrew Jackson made his famous shake-up in federal postoffices and established a precedent that was followed b}' all succeeding Presidents. In 1839 Davison married a daughter of Judge Test. His death occurred in 1871. He was in his day one of the foremost lawyers in the state ; possessed a fine character in public and private life and left a large estate. He left one son, Joseph, who died a few years later.

Other Early Figures At The Bar

Other attorneys who practiced in the Decatur county court in those earl}- days were Ohver H. Smith, afterwards United States senator from Indiana, and John Test, who was admitted in 1830. This John Test was the second son of John Test, Sr., who represented this district in Congress from 1829 to 1835. Young Test died of tuberculosis in 1839 and his widow some time later married Judge Davison.

Martin Jamison, who had studied law under James Brown, was admitted to the bar in 1827. He served in the state Legislature in 1839 and died of lung trouble in 1841. In his short career he built up a very lucrative practice.

Following Jamison, Joseph Robison was the next to be admitted to the bar. He was not well versed in legal procedure, and his knowledge of the fundamentals of the law left something to be desired; but as an advocate he stood head and shoulders above the other lawyers of those early days. He was a candidate for Congress on the Whig ticket in 185 1, but was defeated by John L. Robinson, the Democratic incumbent. The latter was the father of Joseph Robinson, of Anderson, who represented that district in the Legislature for a number of terms.

Before his admission to the bar, Robinson served as sheriff for two terms, during which time he read law. He had but little education, and when he was married was unable to read and write. He represented Decatur count}' several times in the state Legislature and was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1850.

The next citizen of Decatur county to be admitted to the practice of law was John D. Haynes, a native of New York. He completed a previously begun course of study in the office of Judge Davison, and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He moved to Dearborn county in 1843 and was later elected judge of the court of common pleas of Dearborn and Ohio counties.

Philander Hamilton and Henry Spottswood Christian located in Greensburg next. Hamilton gave promise of a brilliant career, but died young and before he had attained the summit of his powers. Christian was a native of Virginia, and claimed relationship with some of the first colonial families of that state. The path of the young lawyer was no more strewn with roses in those days than it is at present, so he quit his office for a year to teach in the old seminary and then returned to practice, with better results. He later located at Versailles and died there, of tuberculosis, in 1859.

Lawyers from other counties, who have had cases in the local court, have frequently been admitted^ to practice upon motion, as a courtesy, and many names appear upon the records of men who have never practiced regularly in the local courts. In 1842 A. A. Hammond was thus admitted on motion. Mr. Hammond was later elected lieutenant-governor of the state.

Seven lawyers were admitted in 1844. They were Edward Sanders, S. E. Perkins, who later was elevated to the supreme bench; Squire W. Robinson, Samuel Seabaugh, Silas Overturf, J. S. Scobey and Hugh F. Fugit.

Prominent Figures At The Bar

Col. John S. Scobey, one of the most famous members of the Decatur county bar, was born near Cincinnati in 181 8, and was educated in the Franklin county schools. He was a student for two years at Miami University, quitting his collegiate studies to read law in the office of Governor Bebb at Hamilton. Later, intending to practice in Lidiana, he left Hamilton and resumed his studies at Brookville, where he was admitted to the bar in 1844. He settled at Greensburg the same year.

Scobey was circuit prosecutor from 1847 to 1850, and in 1852 was elected state senator from this county. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Governor Morton, who was his classmate at Miami, telegraphed him to come to Indianapolis at once. As a result of the interview, Scobey returned to Decatur county and raised Company A, of the Sixty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Infantry. He performed valorous service throughout the war and his rise was rapid. He soon rose from captain to major and in 1863 became lieutenant-colonel of the Sixty-eighth Regiment. When Colonel King fell at Chickamauga, Scobey was assigned to command of the regiment.

Upon his return to civil life he engaged for a time in business affairs, before resuming the practice of law. He was three times a presidential elector. The first time was in 1852, on the Whig ticket; the second time, in 1872, on the Democratic ticket, and again in 1876 on the Democratic ticket.

Barton W. Wilson, who was the next to be admitted to the bar, was a graduate of Indiana University and located in Greensburg in 1848. He was a candidate for the state Senate in 1852, but was defeated by William J. Robinson. His defeat was largely due to his endorsement of the compromise measures of 1850. Wilson was a public-spirited man, willing and able at any time to help forward any enterprise which had for its aim the betterment of his city. It is said that, throughout his active career, there was no pubhc undertaking that did not draw largely upon his purse and personal services. The first fire engine owned by the city of Greensburg was named for him.

Not only was Barton W. Wilson a well-read elementary lawyer, but he kept well up with the rulings of the courts of his day and was most painstaking in preparation of his cases. He held many posts of honor in local affairs, for which he was indel)ted to political foes as well as to the members of his own party.

Took Part In The Civil War

Col. James Gavin, another leader at the bar in that day, was a man of unusual ability. He had acquired an education, married and was practicing law before he had attained his majority. He taught school in Union county for a time and then moved to Greensburg, where he was admitted to the bar in 1853. I" ^ short time he had built up a large practice. He was born in 1830 and died in 1873.

At the outbreak of the war, James Gavin was made adjutant of the Seventh Regiment and when it was reorganized, at the end of its threemonths enlistment, he became its lieutenant-colonel. He was given command of this regiment in 1862 and served until the spring of 1863, at which time he resigned on account of a wound received during the second battle of Bull Run. In 1864 he was made colonel of one of the hundred-day regiments sent to Tennessee to relieve the veterans of Sherman's army.

Colonel Ga\-in was originally a Democrat, but was a candidate in 1862 for Congress on the Union ticket, being defeated by William S. Holman. After the war he was elected county clerk upon the Republican ticket. He resigned this office to accept an appointment as internal revenue collector, which had been proffered him by President Johnson. He did not secure this office, however, as the Senate refused to confirm the appointment ; so he retired from official life and returned to the Democratic party.

One of Colonel Gavin's contemporaries was Oscar B. Hord, who later attained national recognition as a legal authority. Hord came from Kentucky, a member of a family of lawyers. He was a member of the bar at Maysville, Kentucky, until 1851, in which year he located in Greensburg. He was very young and rather diffident, but the time not needed by clients he devoted to study and so became one of the most thorough lawyers in Indiana. He associated himself with James Gavin and wrote "Gavin and Hord's Indiana Statutes," with full annotations, which was greatly appreciated liy the profession in this state.

Hord was elected attorney-general in 1862 and moved to Indianapolis. After his term expired he went into the firm of Hendricks, Hord & Hendricks, of Indianapolis, one of the leading law firms of the state. He was one of the most highly trained members of the profession that the Decatur county bar has ever given to the state.

Charles F. Parrish and James Coverdill came to Greensburg from Ohio, in 185 1, and established the firm of Coverdill & Parrish, which continued for two years, at the end of which time Parrish left the county and Coverdill joined with James Gavin in the formation of a new firm. Parrish won high honors during the Civil War and retired as colonel of the One Hundred and Thirtieth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry. Coverdill made a poor soldier; quit the service and died in Cincinnati shortly after the war.

Gen. Ira G. Grover, Decatur county's most illustrious soldier, was born in Union county, Indiana, in 1832. His parents moved to Greensburg and he enjoyed the best educational advantages that could be obtained there, after which he was sent to Asbury Academy, now DePauw University, where he was graduated in 1856, with first honors. Grover taught school until i860, in which year he was elected to the state Legislature, where he served during the regular session and through part of the special session called at the outbreak of the Civil War. Having been elected a lieutenant in Company B, Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, he quit his seat in the Legislature and served through the war. On the return of the "three-months men," he organized a new company and was chosen its captain. He was with the Se^'enth in every fight in which it took part, until he was captured during the first day of the Battle of the Wilderness, in May, 1S64.

General Grover was wounded three times during the war, at Ft. Republic, second Bull Run and in the Wilderness, during which latter engagement he was taken prisoner and placed in prison at Charlestown, where, with a number of other Union officers, he was placed under fire of their own batteries. After some time he was exchanged and after a short visit in Greensburg, returned to his regiment in time to be mustered out. At the close of the war he held the rank of colonel of the Seventh and was later, for his gallant services, breveted brigadier-general by President Lincoln.

Before the outbreak of the war General Grover had studied law and he resumed his studies upon his return to Greensburg. He was admitted to the bar in 1866, but on account of his political activities never engaged in the practice of the legal profession. He was the Republican nominee for Congress in 1866, but was defeated by William S. Holman. He was twice elected clerk of the Decatur county circuit court. Near the close of his second term, he showed signs of a mental affliction, due to wounds received in the service, and was placed for care and treatment in a state institution. He died on May 30, 1873.

Judge Samuel A. Bonner, for twelve years judge of the eighth judicial circuit, was born on an Alabama plantation, in 1826. His father abhorred slavery and came to Greensburg to educate his children, out of reach of its baneful influence. He was educated at Richland Academy, Miami University and Center College, Danville, Kentucky, from which he was graduated in 1849. For a time he read law in the ofiice of Andrew Davison and then entered the Indiana University law school. Upon his graduation, in 1852, Bonner was admitted to the Decatur county bar. He formed a partnership with Barton W. Wilson, which continued until he was elected to the Legislature, in 1854. Two ygars later he was elected judge of the common-pleas court of Rush and Decatur counties, serving for four years. When he retired from public life, in i860, he formed a partnership with William Cumback, which lasted until Cumback retired from practice.

In 1877 Judge Bonner was called by election to the bench of the circuit court where he ser\-ed for twelve years. He then jjecame senior partner of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Bennet, with which he remained until his death, on April 5, 1904.

Entered Public Life Early

Cortez Ewing, elder brother of James K. Ewing, dean of the Decatur county bar, was born in 1837 and entered public life at the early age of thirteen; filling, at that tender stage of his career, the office of deputy clerk and recorder under Henry H. Talbott, prominent office holder of the early days. In 1857 Cortez Ewing was given a position in the general land office at Washington, D. C, under Thomas A. Hendricks, who was then commissioner of the general land office. Ewing was admitted to the bar in 1858, and began the practice of law in i860. For the next two years he was in the office of Gavin & Hord, and assisted Hord in his work of revision of the laws of Indiana. He became a partner of Hord, but later entered practice alone. He served, from 1874 to 1878, as trustee of the state institute for the education of the blind. Later in life he cjuit the law to become cashier of the Third National Bank of Greensburg. Much of the early success of this institution is due to the respect in which Mr. Ewing was held throughout the county. He died in 1887.

judicial circuit, was born near Clarksburg, this county, in 1840, and thus was one of the first native-born attorneys to achieve eminence in the legal profession. He entered Hanover College in 1859, but in 1861 left college and enlisted in Company G, Seventh Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private throughout the Civil War. Upon the close of the war, he studied law with Overstreet & Hunter, at Franklin, and was admitted to the bar in 1866, after which he moved to Greensburg. In 1872 he was elected to the Legislature from Decatur and Rush counties. Prior to his election to the Legislature, he had served Greensburg as city clerk and city attorney. From 1868 until 1873 he was the law partner of Colonel Gavin. In 1891 Judge Miller, was appointed to the supreme bench of the state to fill a vacancy and served until 1893. He was the Republican candidate for the same high office in 1892, but was defeated. He then resumed the practice of law and in 1894 was elected circuit judge. He died on March 20, 1898.

Frank E. Gavin, of the firm of Ga\in, Gavin & Davis, of Indianapolis, is the son of James Gavin and was for many years a leading member of the Decatur county bar. He was born on February 20, 1854, and entered Harvard College, graduating from that institution with the class of 1873. He studied law with Judge John D. Miller and was admitted to the bar on February 19, 1875, the day before he attained his majority. He served for several years as county attorney and in 1892 was elected judge of the appellate court for the second district. Upon leaving the bench. Judge Gavin formed business associations in Indianapolis and has since continued the practice of law in that city. He was married in 1876 to Ella B. Lathrop, daughter of James B. Lathrop. He is a prominent Mason and was at one time grand master of that order in Indiana.

John L. Bracken, who served one term as prosecuting attorney of Decatur county, was admitted to the bar in 1871. For a number of years he was associated with M. D. Tackett, in the firm of Bracken & Tackett. In 1878 he was elected circuit prosecutor and served one term. He quit the law some time after and engaged in the monument business at Richmond. Indiana, later accepting appointment as deputy revenue collector under his brother, William H. Bracken, of Brookville. A widow and one son survive him.

with his parents, at the age of ten. After completing his education in the cit)- schools he learned the trade of cabinet maker, which he followed until the beginning of the Civil War, when he enlisted in the Third Indiana Artillery. He saw service with Fremont and Sherman and was mustered out with three years of honorable service to his credit. He lost an arm by the premature discharge of a cannon, while celebrating the election of Governor Morton.

Tackett was admitted to the bar in 1874 and three years later was appointed city attorney of Greensburg, serving in that office until 1881, in which year he was appointed prosecuting attorney of the eighth judicial district by Governor Morton, to fill a \-acancy caused by the resignation of Richard Durnan, who had succeeded John L. Bracken. He then held the office for four years more by election. He was a member of the state central committee of the Republican party for .four years and a delegate to the national convention in Chicago, in 1888; in which year he declined the Republican nomination for Congress. He was chief allotting agent of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians in 1891. In 1892 he was elected clerk of the Decatur circuit court and was a candidate for re-election in 1896. Before he became prosecutor he was a member of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Bennett, also had served for a time as postmaster at Greensburg. .\t the time of his death he was associated with Davison Wilson, under the firm name of Tackett & Wilson.

William H. Goddard, who during his time, was Decatur county's leading pension attorney, was born in Clinton township on February 22, 1837. He taught school until 1861, when he was appointed to a clerical position in the department of the interior. Later he was transferred to the treasury department, Avhere he remained until his return to Greensburg, in 1876. While at the national capital he studied law at the Georgetown Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1872. At the request of James G. Blaine, he was appointed, in 1881, assistant superintendent of the railway mail service, with headquarters at St. Louis.

Goddard's legal practice consisted almost entirely of the settlement of pension claims; and, on account of his knowledge of such matters and his personal acquaintance with the business of the pension bureau, he was remarkably successful. During the last ten years of his life he was associated in practice with his son, John F. Goddard. He died on June 21, 1901.

John F. Goddard was born on October 22, 1858, in Clay township, this county, and was graduated from Indiana L'niversity in 1880. He was admitted to the bar in 1891, but did not commence active practice until 1896. (19)

In 1905 he formed a law partnership with John W. Craig, and the firm of Goddard & Craig is the oldest law firm in Greensburg. John W. Craig was born in Greensburg in 1880, and was graduated from the Indiana Law School before attaining his majority. He served as deputy prosecutor before he was twenty-one ; had a murder indictment returned, but being too young to be admitted to the bar, was compelled to secure another attorney to handle the case when it came to trial.

Judge W. A. Moore was born on a farm in Franklin county, August 16, 1838. When he had completed his preparatory education he entered the office of Judge Bonner and read law there. He was admitted to practice in 1866. The same year he was elected to the state Legislature, where he served one term. In 1870 he was elected common-pleas judge of the twentysecond judicial district and filled the ofiice until it was abolished by act of the Legislature.

In 1876 Judge Moore was elected to the state Senate upon the Republican ticket and served two terms. He then returned to private practice, continuing the same until his death.

Davison Wilson, a former prominent member of the Decatur county bar, was born in Greensburg, and was educated in the schools of that city and at Indiana University. He studied law for a time in the office of W. B. Wilson and was admitted to the bar on September 6, 1881. He formed his first legal partnership with Judge David A. Myers, and some time later established his office with Cortez Ewing; then with M. D. Tackett. Later he engaged in the practice of his profession alone. Wilson was a man of small stature, but a most excellent lawyer. His education gave him a strong foundation for general practice. His speeches were models of brevity and conciseness and his diction was both pure and elegant. For many years he was the one of the leading representatives of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad Company. He never married. He died in 191 1.

William Cumback, who, during his long career of public usefulness, was Greensburg's foremost and most distinguished citizen, was admitted to the Decatur county bar in 1853, after a short preparatory course at the Cincinnati Law School. Save during the periods when he was in the service of the government in many a case before the Decatur county bar during more than forty years he appeared upon one side or the other.

S. Holman, '"the watchdog of the treasury," and on terms of intimate relationship with the nation's great in the critical period during the sessions of the thirty-fourth Congress, young Cumback was a character that attracted national attention.

Defeated for re-election in 1856 by an influx of foreign voters, he again came into prominence in i860, when he cast the electoral vote of Indiana for Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States. At the first call to arms he joined the colors as a private in the Thirteenth Regiment. Indiana \'olunteer Infantry, rising to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He later was appointed paymaster in the army and disbursed more than sixty million dollars without the loss of a penny. He was elected state senator in 1866, became president of the Senate in 1867 and lieutenantgovernor in 1868.

In 1871 Governor Cumback declined the proffered appointment as minister to Portugal and in that year was made collector of internal revenue for his district, serving for twelve years. Until his death, in August, 1905, he spent much of his time on the lecture platform, being a very popular and entertaining speaker. Governor Cumback was an earnest member of the Methodist church and his voice for years was one of the most influential in the great councils of American Methodism.

Christopher Shane, a prominent member of the Decatur county bar many years ago, was born in Shelby county on August 11, 1833. He first practiced law in i8'65 with Judge William A. Moore. For four years before he was admitted to the bar he was a clerk in the pension bureau at Washington, D. C. Beginning in 1867, he served six years as mayor of Greensburg and was later city and county attorney. Some years after he went into the insurance business in Washington and died in that state.

Douglas Watts, stepson of Colonel Scobey, was born in Cincinnati on August 27, 1858, and in 1877 moved to Greensburg, where he was employed as clerk by an uncle. He was admitted to the bar in 1880 and died a few years after in the West, whither he had gone for his health.

Judge James K. Ewing, dean of the Decatur county bar, son of Patrick Ewing, one of the pioneer settlers of Clay township and father of several distinguished sons, was born in Decatur county on NoN-eml^er 2^, 1843. He studied law with his brother, Cortez Ewing, and later formed a partnership with the latter, which lasted until 1883, when the elder Ewing retired to become a banker. James K. Ewing then formed a partnership with his nephew, Cortez Ewing, Jr., which lasted until 1893. I" that year, through the death of Judge John W. Study, Mr. Ewing was appointed to the bench of the eighth judicial circuit, serving in that capacity until 1895, when he retired to private practice, first in partnership with John D. Wallingford, then with G. L. Tremain, then with Frank Hamilton and now with Fred F. Smith. Mr. Ewing was a delegate to the Democratic national convention in 1888 and made races for the local circuit judgeship in 1888 and 1896, but was both times defeated. He was then associated for a time with another nephew. Judge Ewing has a well-earned reputation as a lawyer and is held in the utmost esteem and respect ; not only by members of the Decatur county bar, but by his many clients, with whom his dealings have always been most careful and just.

Surmounted Great Handicap

John Ouincy Donnell, although not engaged in the practice of law, is a member of the Decatur county bar. He was educated at the Indiana state school for the blind and at Oberlin College. In 1878 he was elected to the Indiana Legislature and served one term. For a time he was a member of the firm of Boothe & Donnell and later edited the Greenshurg Review and a paper at Anderson, Indiana. Although totally blind, Mr. Donnell has marvelous ability in a number of fields and is reputed to be one of the ablest chess players in this part of the state.

B. F. Bennett, who removed, in 1914, to California, was born on March 31, 1854, in this county and was admitted to the bar in 1878. He served four terms as county attorney, was a member of the Greensburg school board and active in all movements for the good of the community. He was first associated with Judge Moore and upon his partner's death became a member of the firm of Bonner, Tackett & Bennett. When that firm was broken up, he formed a partnership with Thomas E. Davidson, under the firm name of Bennett & Davidson.

Samuel B. Edward was born on November 29, 1852, in Washington township, studied at the Indianapolis Commercial College and was graduated in 1 87 1. He studied two years at Butler College and then read law in the office of Bonner & Bracken. He was admitted to the bar in 1875. In 1883 he was elected mayor of Greensburg. When he retired from office he practiced law again for a time and then turned his attention to a stone quarry at Harris, this county. In 1910 he represented Decatur county in the state Leg-

Barton Porter, brother of Alexander Porter, practiced law in Greensburg one year before his death, in 1903. Pie was a graduate of Indiana University, completing his legal education at that institution in 1902. Upon leaving college he formed a partnership with George L. Tremain. He was a promising young attorney and would doubtless have risen high in his chosen profession, but for his untimely death.

John L. Davis, who was elected prosecuting attorney in 1898, came to Decatur county from Rising Sun, Indiana, and formed a partnership with Judge Moore. His father was Rodney L. Davis, one of the leading attorneys of Ohio county. Davis died in 1901.

Thomas L. Creath, another outside lawyer, who became prosecutor, was born in Batesville, Indiana. He was elected to this ofifice in 1900 and served one term. When his term expired he formed a partnership with John Parker, which lasted until he moved to A'ersailles in 1904. His death occurred in 1914.

Elmer Roland, who served as prosecutor of the ninth judicial circuit from 1896 to 1898, was born in Columbus, Indiana, but came to Decatur county at an early age. Upon being admitted to the bar he commenced the practice of law in partnership with John Osborn. Roland married a daughter of Brutus Hamilton and now resides in Mississippi.

George L. Tremain, of the firm of Tremain & Turner, was born in Bartholomew county, April 6, 1877, '^^as graduated from Central Normal College, Danville. Indiana, in 1900, and was admitted to the bar the same year. He first practiced with Barton Porter, then with Judge Ewing until 1906, and then with Charles Ewing until 1908, since which time he has been associated in practice with Rolin A. Turner.

Oscar G. Aliller, of the firm of Miller & Ryan, was born in Rush county, and came to Greensburg in 1882. For three years he taught school and studied law at the same time, being admitted to the bar in 1888. He then took the liberal arts course at DePauw University and was graduated in 1891. He was for a time associated with Judge Moore. Charles L. Rvan, the junior partner of this firm, is engaged in the insurance business. He was born in Decatur county in 1884 and was admitted to the bar in 1910.

Two Decatur county lawyers, who held the office of prosecuting attorney and later moved to other locations and have almost been forgotten, were Piatt Wicks and Creighton Dandy. Wicks was prosecuting attorney before the Civil War and after quitting the public service, moved to Harlan, Iowa, where he accumulated a fortune. He has been dead for a number of years. Creighton Dandy was prosecutor from 1875 to 1880. When he Hved in Greensburg he owned the property where the Espy house now is. He went from Greensburg to Lawrenceburg, where he built up a profitable practice. He also is dead.

John H. Parker, who does a general abstracting business, was born in Rush county, January 26, 1866, and was admitted to the bar in 1892. He first formed a partnership with Myron C. Jenkins and later with T. L. Creath. Since the death of Creath he has been practicing alone.

A. H. Fisher, father of Carl Fisher, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Company, at one time practiced law in Greensburg, but moved to Indianapolis when Carl was about twelve years old. The elder Fisher was born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1847, ^rid was admitted to the Morgan county bar in 1871. He was at one time deputy prosecutor of Decatur county. Fisher was of a rather belligerent disposition, and besides whipping the town marshal at one time, occasionally made things warm for other members of the bar. He once clashed with Judge Ewing, and the two were at swords' points for more than a year. Later, matters were amicably adjusted.

Roy E. Glidewell. a younger member of the Decatur county bar, was born on a farm, six miles east of Greensburg, on November 26, 1891. He was educated in the common schools and later studied law, being admitted to practice in 1914. He has his ofifice with Judge Ewing.

Judge Hugh D. Wickens was born, August 30, 1870, on a farm near North Vernon, Indiana. He obtained a common and high school education in the North Vernon schools and afterward taught school in Jennings county, Indiana, in Tennessee, and at Vincennes, Indiana. He was graduated from the Indiana Law School of Indianapolis, May 29. 1895, and came to Greensburg, July I, 1895, and was soon afterward admitted to the Decatur county bar. He practiced law by himself until November i, 1897, when he formed a partnership with John Osborn, continuing in the firm of Wickens & Osborn until he was elected judge of the ninth judicial circuit of Indiana in 1910. He served as county attorney during 1900 and 1901. He is a Democrat and a member of the Elks lodge.

Mvron C. Jenkins was admitted to the bar of the Decatur circuit court before Judge Samuel A. Bonner in 1886. Beginning in that year, he was in partnership with John H. Parker for some time. He was elected clerk of Decatur county in 1904 and re-elected in 1908, serving eight years in that ofi-ice. Upon closing his last term of ofiice, he resumed the practice of law. He has sat as special judge at numerous times in the Decatur circuit court.

George Bruce served a short while as deputy prosecuting attorney in the time when Wilham V. O'Donnell, now of St. Louis, was prosecuting attorney of the ninth judicial circuit in 1909 and 1910. In 191 1 and 1912 Horace C. Skillman was deputy prosecuting attorney for Decatur county during the term of Ralph Spaugh. Mr. Skillman removed to Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1913.

F. Gates Ketchum was admitted to the bar in 1909. He has been in the practice of the law since March, 191 3, having offices in the Citizens Bank building. Since his appearance at the bar he has been of counsel for one side or the other in several important cases.

David A. Myers, of the Decatur county bar, was elected to the appellate court of Indiana for two terms. He was admitted to the bar at Greensburg before Judge Bonner, in September, 1881. In 1890 he was elected prosecuting attorney of the eighth judicial circuit of Indiana, then embracing Rush and Decatur counties, and was re-elected to that office in 1892. In 1899 he succeeded Judge John D. Miller on the bench for Rush and Decatur counties, serving as circuit judge from March, 1899, until January of the ensuing year. Judge Myers was elected to the appellate court in 1904, and re-elected in 1908, serving as appellate judge until January i, 1913. Since that date he has been engaged in active practice at Greensburg.

Rollin A. Turner, in the same year that he graduated from college, entered into the law partnership of Tremain & Turner. He is a graduate of the college of law of Harvard University in the class of 1907. In that year he came to Greensburg and has continuously since been in active practice with G. L. Tremain. Mr. Turner was the Republican candidate for Congress in the fourth congressional district of Indiana in the campaign of 1912.

After having served as deputy auditor of Decatur county, John E. Osborn was admitted to the bar in 1897. He formed a partnership at once with Elmer E. Roland, who was then prosecuting attorney. He continued in partnership with Mr. Roland until November, 1897, at which time Wickens & Osborn formed a partnership, which continued until Mr. Wickens was elected to the bench in 1910. In December, 1910, Mr. Osborn and Lewis A. Harding formed a partnership. Frank Hamilton became a member of the firm on January i, 1912, and Mr. Harding entered the ofiice of prosecuting attorney at the commencement of 1913. Mr. Osborn served as Democratic chairman of the sixth congressional district of Indiana.

Frank Hamilton, before he began the study of law, attended Butler College in 1900 and 1901. He was a student in the law school of Indiana University from 1901 to 1904. He entered the Indiana Law School of

Indianapolis in 1905 and was graduated from that school in the same year. He then continued the stud_v of law further, after his graduation, in the law ofhce of Tackett & Wilson in Greensburg. He was admitted to the bar in December, 1905. He practiced in partnership with James K. Ewing during the period of 1906 to 1912, and in 1912 joined in partnership with Osborn & Harding. Mr. Hamilton was deputy prosecuting attorney from 1907 to 1909. He was county attorney during the year 1912.

Lewis A. Harding is a son of James L. Harding, of Newpoint. He obtained his elementary education in his home schools and at Greensburg. He taught school four years in Decatur county and at Alexandria, and afterward was graduated in law from the Indiana State University in 1909. He then spent a year and a half in the west, serving as head of the department of English of the Wichita, Kansas, high school from 1909 to 191 1. Upon the election of Judge Wickens to the bench in 1910, Mr. Harding joined in partnership with John E. Osborn. Frank Hamilton later joined the firm of Osborn & Harding, January i, 1912. Mr. Harding was elected prosecuting attorney of the ninth judicial circuit of Indiana in 1912 for the years 1913 and 1914, and was re-elected in 1914. In addition to his other writings, he is the author of a work on international law, entitled "The Preliminary Diplomacy of the Spanish-American War."

Thomas E. Davidson was graduated in law from DePauw University in 1887. Prior to that time he had read law in the office of Col. Simeon Stansifer at Columbus. He was admitted to the bar in Columbus in 1891, where he served as deputy in the county clerk's ofHce three years. Mr. Davidson came to Greensburg in the autumn of 1895 and practiced law in partnership with Benjamin F. Bennett from February, 1896, until October, 1914, when Mr. Bennett removed to California. Mr. Davidson was elected president of the State Bar Association of Indiana in July, 1914. At the annual meeting of the State Bar Association in Indianapolis in July, 191 5, as president of the association, he delivered an address on "Respect for the Law," which has attracted wide attention in the state.

Earl Hite attended Butler College in 1900 and 1901, after which he went to Indiana LTniversitv, where he was graduated from the school of law in 1905. He was admitted to the bar in 1904 and served as deputy prosecuting attorney for a time in 1909 and 1910. He has been city attorney of the city of Greensburg since 1910.

William F. Robbins was admitted to the bar of the Decatur circuit court in June, 1913, at which time he was appointed deputy prosecuting attor-

Cortez Ewing, Jr., was born in Clay township on September 14, 1862, and moved to Greensburg in 1875. He studied law with his uncles, Cortez and James K. Ewing, and was admitted to the Decatur county bar "ex gracia" while in his teens in 1883. He was a son of Abel Ewing and was one of the most brilliant and, at the same time, when he dealt with a contrary witness or attorney, one of the most adroit young lawyers that ever practiced at the Decatur county bar. These qualities, coupled with his impressive personality, his legal acumen and ready wit, made him advance rapidly as a lawyer. His first practice was in partnership with his uncle, James K. Ewing, which continued until 1893. He later formed a partnership with Davisson Wilson in 1895, which continued until his unfortunate death in 1902. In 1889 he was elected state senator for Decatur and Shelby counties. He married Mary Matthews, daughter of former Governor Claude Matthews, June 18, 1890. He was the author of the \\'orld's Fair bill that became a law in 1891. He was appointed a member of the world's law commission by former Governor Hovey.

The junior member of the Decatur county bar is Fred F. Smith, from Bloomington, Indiana. He was admitted to the bar before Judge \Vickens, July 10, 191 5. He was graduated from the Indiana University Law School in 1915.