Marshall County, Indiana - Chapter 7, 1881

Chapter 7

Court Hovuses - First Court House - sSreconp Court House - Tumrp Court HouskE - LAYING Corner STONE - ADDRESS - FREE DINNEK FOR 10,000 - Cost OF BUILDING, $105,000 - First County JAIL - ContTract - Cost, $399 - Sreconp JAIL - Cost, $2,380 - THirD J AtL - Cost, $22,000 - CounTy ASYLUM. LYMOUTH was permanently established as the seat of justice of Marshall County on the 20th day of July, 1836, as set forth between the proprietors and the Board, was completed according to contract. Its dimensions were 20x30 feet, one story high, and was erected on Lot No. 22, being the lot on which J. N. Freese now resides, This building was used for the purposes for which it was intended until the county built the wooden court house which gave way, in 1871, to the magnificent building now adorning the public square. The old building was used as a carpentershop, cabinet-shop and other purposes, and was afterward moved "down town," and later, on to the lot where the new engine house now stands, where it was used for a place of worship by the Presbyterian congregation. Still later it was converted into a dwelling, and oceupied as such until its purchase by Arthur L. Thomson, for the sum of $10, and by him removed to his premises, west of the court house, where it has been so completely overhauled as to lose its identity.

The contract for the building of the first. court house erected by the county, was awarded to Levi C. Barber, May 8, 1840. As compensation for building the same, it was agreed by the Board of Commissioners that he should have all the lots donated by the proprietors of the town, unsold at the time the contract was made, except the lot on which the court house was to be built. He was also to receive a small amount of money and notes, except about $517 in notes in the hands of the County Agent.

From an estimate of the value of the lots at that time, it is thought the probable expense of building the court house was about $5,000, The lmmber of which it was built was manufactured at the saw-mill at Wolf Creek, five miles southwest of Plymouth. The old mill has long since gone to decay, and the frame-work only remains, as a sort of historical landmark of the beginning of civilization forty years ago. The rising generation and those who may come after them, will be interested in knowing that the court house in question was the finest teraple of justice, at that time, in Northern Indiana. Its dimensions were about 50x80 feet, two stories in height, with a cupola, and winding stairs to the top. Offices, about 14x16, on the first floor, were provided for the Clerk, Treasurer, Auditor, Recorder and Surveyor. The second floor was used entirely for court purposes. This building was sold at auction in 1871, for $150, to A. ©. Thompson, and by him transferred to M. W. Downey, who removed it to a vacant lot on the L, P. & C. R. R., west of the present school building, where it was converted into a stave and barrel factory. During a heavy thunder-storm one evening in July, 1874, it was struck by lightning, eanght fire, and in less than an hour was a mass of smoldering ruins.

If the public buildings of a county are in anywise an index of the enterprise and intelligence of its people, the county of Marshall may fairly claim a front rank for her citizens, for no other county in the State, of the same population, can boast of as fine and complete a court house as that belonging to Marshall County at the present time.

It is an elegant brick and stone structure, complete in all its parts ; with all the offices fire-proof, and the court room, halls, offices, jury and other rooms beautifully frescoed. The furniture, desks, counters, ete., were designed and finished by home workmen, and made in the most substantial manner, from native ash and black walnut. All the rooms and offices are furnished in the most substantial manner. The Judge's desk, in the court room, is pronounced by all who see it, as one of the finest if not the very finest in the State.

The walls of the building are of great thickness, and look wonderfully solid, the heavy rough ashlar of the foundation giving them the appearance of being built on a solid ledge of rocks. A visit to the basement story, in which the foundation and division walls are plainly seen, will convince any one that "the building ought to stand a thousand years." Architect Randall, of Chicago, pronounced the brick work the "best publie work of the kind he had ever seen." court house, and at the June term, 1865, of Commissioners' Court, a court house tax was levied, which levy was kept up until the building was finished. In 1869, Alexander C. Thompson, John ©. Cushman and Albertus C. Capron were appointed a building committee, to procure plans and get in readiness to commence work. Mr. Thompson declined and Johnson Brownlee was appointed in his stead. The plans and specifications prepared by G. P. Randall, Esq., of Chicago, were finally adopted by the committee, and approved by Hiram A. Ranck, Jonas Miller and Henry Krause, then constituting the Board of Commissioners, and the contract was let to Epperson & Favorite, of La Fayette, Ind., under whose direction the work was commenced in April, 1S70, and from that time pushed vigorously forward.

near by, at which there were, to use the language of an enthusiastic spectator, "miles of tables and acres of provisions."' The corner-stone was laid mnder the immediate supervision of the Masonic fraternity, which was represented by a large number of lodges, headed by Martin H. Rice, Grand Master of the State. The Odd Fellows and other associations, firemen, Town Connceil, etc., were also in attendance. Hon. Andrew L. Osborn, who was then Judge of the court, was selected as orator of the day, but owing to sickness was unable to attend. Hon. Charles H. Reeve was then selected by the committee, and although he had but a short time to prepare himself, made one of the finest efforts of his life. After a few preliminary remarks he said :

"The people of Marshall County have met to lay the cornerstone structure, which will be their Temple of Justice, and within which must be kept the records of her whole history, past and future, and where must be transacted all the business relating to her people and their prosperity. Her representative business men must sit here to hold intercourse with other municipalities like herself, with the State, and with all individuals having public business within her borders; and from the impression made by them must go abroad the opinions of men as to the capacity of the people to govern themselves. The extensive interests involved in her administration, and the important duties demanded by mankind, so far as they affect her people, center here; and from here must emanate - in wisdom or folly - that kind of administration of public affairs which will make her people prosperous and wise, or bring them burthens and ignorance, and offer great inducements, or none at all, for capital or intelligence to make their home with her. The management of schools and the funds to maintain them; the valuation of property; the levy of taxes; the collection of and accounting for the public money; the care of the poor; the directions for public improvements; the provisions for the safe-keeping of persons charged with crimes; the preservation of the records of the titles to property; the administration of their center here, and from here will go out the reputation that shall make her fame - good or bad. It is fitting, then, that the chief corner-stone of this temple shall be laid with ceremonies, amid scenes and in presence of witnesses that shall constitute the act an era in the county's history; and it is an occasion when eloquence could give utterance to thoughts in words which would leave impressions on the memory not to be forgotten. _

"That ancient craft, organized when the glory of Israel's inspired king filled the known world with fame in the erection of that wondrous temple their hands created in all its magnificence, and whose order now is found in every land beneath the sun, have laid the corner-stone of almost every public building in the land, and here, to-day, with their imposing ceremonies, lay down for us the corner of this structure, in which shall hereafter center so many vital interests of our people. Within that stone now lies a synopsis of the record of her history to this day. There are names of men - our sometime public servants - who have long since gone down the dusty roid on the march to the home of the dead, and their busy minds, which once sat here in judgment for us, have ceased to think and plan. For each of them, 'the dome of thought, the temple of the soul,' has crumbled back to dust; but their names live here, and 'their works do follow them.' Time shall crumble the walls to be here erected. We shall be where those dead servants are, and our names shall not be known; but in the long years yet to come, nations who come after us may find these records and these names here deposited, and thus are formed the links in the great chain of history which binds the past to the ever-existing present.

" Here, too, for us as well as those to come, is food for thought. Only thirty years ago, and we numbered 126 voters; now we number 4,309! Then our whole population was only 630; now it is about 25,000! Then we had only $461,000 of taxables - supposing the valuation to be one-third - and that mostly in wild lands owned by non-residents; now we have nearly $16,000,000, owned mostly by residents! Then we had no railroads, no telegraphs, no church buildings, few and widely seattered log schoolhouses, no edneational system or public funds to sustain one; now see the contrast, and realize that nearly all the vast improvements that bring all the world together in a week - a day - an hour - have principally emanated from the minds of American citizens, and are the legitimate outgrowth of that system of governnment of which our counties form a part.

"See here to-day the thousands assembled, who, a few short hours ago, were at their homes long miles away, and in a few hours hence will be there again, moving all the time with the ease and comfort of an afternoon visit at the residence of some friend; again, behold the contrast! These mon whose names we have preserved beneath that stone, in their day, would have been weeks, by rude conveyance and camping out, in making such a round,

"Ah me! Well I remember all their faces. And I remember, too, many of the faces of the wild Indians among whom they came to open up the wilderness that has given place to all this civilization we now enjoy. I knew these men, and how they lived. And I saw the red men and their wives and children torn from their homes here by the soldiers and driven from the graves of their fathers, almost in sight of this spot where I now stand, by the sharp bayonet of the soldier, leaving the land for us.

vincible, punning Everts; the English-like Judge, S. C. Sample; the Websterian-looking Liston; the wily J ernegan; the eloquent Hannegan; the scholarly Bradley; the scientific Niles; the witty Orton; I cannot pause to name them all, but their faces rise up before me as they were. Some live yet; some have gone to visit 'that bourn whence no traveler returns.' But they were with us and of us; and no portion of the State, or of any State, has seen better lawyers, truer men, or, as a class, those who have left a better record. Peace to the ashes of those who are gone; a serene and prosperous old age to those who are left! It makes me sad to go back in memory to those early days and note the havoe made by death. It makes me proud to note the progress made within the space upon which these men have left the impress of their actions and their thoughts. Within the walls here to be erected, no profounder logic, no more thrilling eloquence, no more sparkling wit, will e'er be heard than has fallen from their lips - now cold in the silent chambers of the dead!

"But the living claim our attention. Here before us is the foundation, and about us are the materials and the workmen; what shall come of it? A beautiful and substantial structure, to battle with time and with the elements. For what use? The administration of public justice, the protection of private rights, the punishment for public wrongs, the preservation of the public records. Who shall inhabit here? The servants of the people. By what rule shall they be selected? Because of their fitness, both as to capacity and moral integrity, let us hope. What a trust is here! Shall we ever have a Jeffries on the bench? God forbid! Shall Justice sit blindfolded, while Ignorance, in the person of her minister, the Judge, directs her to strike right or ' left with her sword, without regard to the right or without the ability to see which isright? Heaven forbid! Shall public opinion, founded on rumor, walk into the jury-box and dictate the verdict without regard to evidence? May a just system of education make it impossible. How shall we insure the non-pollution of this temple and make it the fit home for justice to dwell in? By being just ourselves, and fit to be her ministers. By rejecting demagogues. By respecting the law and its ministers, and by making them respect us. By refusing to select them in party or political caucus, and by selecting the purest and most competent men we have, and then paying them a salary sufficient to command their attention to our call for their services, and pension them when they have served till they are old. By crushing, with the contempt of an outraged public, the men who enter the political arena to use its contaminating influences to reach the bench. Above all, having, as a people, permitted such a system to be inaugurated, and many of our good men to be dragged within its action against their sense of right, let us do away with it at the earliest possible moment, and recognize the fact - as patent as sunlight - that cheap salaries command cheap men, and cheap men will degrade justice and bring the law into contempt; the lex talionis - the mother of anarchy - follows.

"May no such fate follow the imposing ceremonies of this day. May no such contamination pollute the beautiful structure whose corner-stone has this day been laid) May our Judges be wise lawyers and honorable gentiemen, and may our people recognize their right to commensurate respect and compensation. May our county offices be always filled by the best men we have who are best fitted for the stations to be filled. May our prosperity continue and our county become the home of still greater intelligence, industry and enterprise, and may the reputation of her publie men be such as to bring to us the wealth and intelligence from abroad which would seek a resting-place only amid an honorable people, whose public servants can be safely trusted with the public interests, and where courts and the law are respected."

The General Committee appointed to make the necessary arrangements were John C. Cushman, William W. Hill, Henry G. Thayer, Oliver H. P. Bailey and Martin H. Rice, of whom Henry G. Thayer was subsequently selected as Secretary, and William W. Hill Treasurer. Mr. Thayer was also selected as Grand Marshal. The concourse of people was immense. Good judges estimated the number in attendance at fully 10,000. A free dinner was prepared for the guests, concerning which the following from the Democrat's report will give some idea:

" Arriving at the grove, visitors and all others who had not before been on the grounds were astonished at the extent and completeness of all the arrangements for the accommodation of guests. The length of the tables aggregated over sixteen hundred feet, all laden with a most bountiful supply of provisions of almost every name and kind. One' gentleman from Fort Wayne, thought that to say there was an acre and a half of refreshments would be as near as he could put it. The tables were under the general supervision of D. F. Ray, for many years steward of the Metropolitan Hotel, of New York, seconded by an able corps of assistants."

" Be it remembered, that, on the 11th day of June, 1872, the records, books and papers of the several county offices were removed into the new court house, just completed at a cost of $105,- 000. The officers of the county at this time are: Daniel Me- Donald, Clerk; Hiram C. Burlingame, Auditor; John Soice, Treasurer; John W. Houghton, Recorder; Daniel K. Harris, Sheriff; Morgan Johnson, Surveyor; John Bauer, Jr., Coroner; Hiram A. Ranck, Jonas Miller and Henry Kranse, Commissioners.

Judge Thomas 5. Stanfield, of South Bend, presided at the first term of court held in the new building, and Daniel K. Harris, Sheriff, first opened court therein with the usual "Hear ye! hear ye! hear ye! the honorable Marshall Cirenit Court is now in session, pursuant to adjournment, and all persons having business herein can now be heard." The Clerk of the Court spread upon the order book of said court the following entry:

"Be it remembered that, at a term of the Cireuit Court of Marshall County, State of Indiana, began and held at the new court house, in Plymouth, Ind., on the first Monday of August, 1872, and on the first judicial day of said term, the same being August 5, 1872, there were present the Hon. Thomas §. Stanfield, Judge of the Ninth Judicial Cireuit of said State, and, exofficio, Judge of the Circuit Court of Marshall County; William B. Hess, Deputy Prosecutor of the Ninth District; the Clerk, and Daniel K. Harris, Sheriff of said county, and court opened in due form of law."

This was August 5, 1872. The names of the Marshall County bar who were in attendance at the opening of said term were Charles H. Reeve, James O. Parks, Horace Corbin, A. C. Capron, M. A. O. Packard, D. B. Van Valkenburgh, John G. Osborne, Amasa Johnson, A. B. Capron, William B. Hess, John S. Bender, J. Darnell, S. D. Parks, Z. D. Boulton and R. D, Logan.

The entire cost of the building, including furniture, heating apparatus, grading the square, and superintendency, was $105,- 000; and the entire county indebtedness for the same was, at date of completion, only $90,000, for which bonds had been issued and sold at par, which, two years later, were fully paid.

Although finished eight years ago, the building appears as new and fresh as if completed yesterday. Its beauty and harmonious proportions strike even the most careless observer, and in the eyes of those who oftenest

The first county jail was built of hewn logs, and was completed August 1, 1838, From the plans and specifications, it appears that the building was "to be 16x20, of white or burr oak timber, to be well hewed, and counter-hewn, twelve inches square; the foundations to be three sills, 12x20 inches, let into the ground on the east, north and west sides. Several years ago, one end was knocked down by a stroke of ligthning, but no serious damage resulted, It was recently demolished by Enoch Belangee.

Third Jail

to build a new jail, secured plans and advertised for bids. The plans adopted were drawn by J. C. Johnson, of Fremont, Ohio, and the contract let to William H. Myers, Fort Wayne, for the sum of $16,970. The heating apparatus, furnishing, painting, the walls of the first story to be made of timbers twelve inches square and hewed as above, to be built seven and a half feet high; then the second floor to be laid with timbers hewn as above, twelve inches square, to be laid in a complete, workmanlike manner; the above-said wall to be raised with a half ' duff-tail,' so as to fit down close and tite! to be two windows, twelve inches square and eighteen inches long; the grates to be let in the centers of the timbers, at equal distance; the said lower floor to be covered with inch boards, well seasoned and well matched, and spiked down with spikes two inches in length, and the spikes to be two feet apart one way and six inches the other; the said walls to be well lined with good white oak plank, well seasoned and matched together, two inches thick, spiked on with four-inch spikes, twelve inches apart one way and four inches the other, the whole building to be weather boarded with good half-inch boards; the door of entrance to be five feet high and two and a half wide; said door frame not less than two inches thick, to be made of good timber, well seasoned, and hung with good strong hinges in the upper story of the north side, near the east end; one trapdoor, made of good oak timber, five inches thick, two and a half feet square, to be hung with good iron hinges, made for the purpose; the said door to be let down even with the floor, in a place eut through the floor for the purpose, to rest on two iron bars, three feet long, one inch square, with a good and sufficient hasp and staple, lock and key, to be placed three feet from the wall of the west end."

The contract for erecting this magnificent building was let, in 1837, to Oliver Rose and James Currier, for the sum of $399, The building was completed according to contract, and many who read this will remember the trap-door aforesaid, through which prisoners were let down to the "bottomless pit" in the regions below. This structure was used until the completion of our present (1879) old brick jail was erected, which in time has given place to our elegant brick and stone jail, and Sheriffs residence, completed as stated further on.

The plans for the second county jail, which stood in the southwest corner of the public square, were drawn by William M. Danham. The contract for its erection was let, through a mistake in reading the bids, in 1849, to A. M. La Peere, E, Compton and W.G. Norris. This was afterward corrected, and the contract let to Albert Bass for $2,380, The building was completed according to contract, and delivered over to the county June 1, 1851. The building proved to be a very poor one, and of late years it has been almost impossible to keep an expert thief from escaping through the tumble-down walls. Some five or six holes,

County Asylum

The first county asylum property was purchased in 1849, of John Murphy, for the sum of $1,671.11. It was situated on the Plymouth & La Porte road, about three miles west of Plymouth. Tor some cause which does not appear of record, it was ordered sold June 19, 1853, for not less than $1,350, and the Auditor was authorized to sell to Joseph Evans for $900 in Fort Wayne & Chicago Railroad stock, and $450 in two equal annual payments. The record of its sale does not appear, but the offer of Mr. Evans was probably accepted, as he afterward owned the property. The present " Poor Farm" is located about one mile from Tyner City. The building is of wood, 34x36, two stories, and was erected in 1862. William B. Kyle is the present Superintendent.