Gage County, Nebraska - Chapter 30: The Bench and the Bar, 1918

The organic act by which the territory of Nebraska was created and under which it was organized, vested the judicial power of the territory in a supreme court, district courts, probate and justice-of-the-peace courts. With respect to the supreme court, it was provided that this high tribunal should consist of a chief justice and two associate justices, to be appointed by the pfesident of the United States, by and with the consent of the senate. Any two of the justices, the act specified, should constitute a quorum. They wtere required to hold one term of court annually at the seat of the territorial government, and continued in office for a period of four years, or until their successors were appointed and had qualified. Their salaries were fixed at the sum of two thousand dollars per annum, to be paid out of the public treasury at Washington, and they were given authority to appoint a clerk, who held office at the pleasure of the justices and who was paid by the fees of his office.

The act further provided that the territory should be divided into three judicial districts and that a term of court should be held annually in each district, by one of the judges of the supreme court, at such times and places as should be prescribed by law. Each judge was authorized to appoint a clerk of the court for his district, "who should also be a register in chancery and should keep his office at the place where the court may be held". Clerks of the district court, like the clerk of the supreme court, held office at the pleasure of the judge apjxjinting them, and were paid by the fees of their respective offices.

Section 17 of the organic act provided that, until otherwise provided by law, the governor of the territory might define the judicial districts "and assign the judges who may be appointed for the territory to the several districts, and also appoint the times and places for holding courts in the several counties or" subdivisions in each of said judicial districts, by proclamation to be issued by him ; but the legislative assembly, at their first or any subsequent session, may organize, alter or modify such judicial districts, and assign the judges, and alter the times and places of holding courts, as to them shall seem proper and convenient."

In June, .1854, President Buchanan appointed James Bradley, of Pennsylvania, associate justice of the territorial supreme court of Nebraska; in July following, Edward Randolph Harden was appointed associate justice of that court; and on October 12th President Buchanan appointed Fenner Ferguson, of the state of New York, chief justice of the court.

Ferguson moved his family to Bellevue, where he resided untirhis death. He was very active in assisting the legislative assembly to frame and adopt the first code of laws enacted for the government of Nebraska Territory and in otherwise placing it in a going condition. Acting within the scope of his authority, Acting-Governor Cuming had by executive proclamation provisionally organized the territor- ial courts by assigning Chief Justice Ferguson to the first judicial district, as established by his proclamation. This district embraced Dodge and Douglas counties. The second district, as marked out by the proclamation, embraced the entire South Platte portion of the territory, and the third, the counties of Burt and Washington. Associate Justice Harden Was assigned to the second, and Associate Justice Bradley to the third district. The proclamation provided for the holding of a term of the supreme court at the seat of government on the third Monday of February, 1855 ; in the first district, at Bellvue, on the second Monday in March, 1855 ; in the second district, at Nebraska City, the third Monday in March, and in the third district, at Florence, the first Monday in April, 1855.

Pursuant to this proclamation, the first session of the territorial supreme court met in Omaha - which had been selected by Acting- Governor Cuming as the capital of the new territory - on the 19th day of February, 1855, and remained in session until the 6th day of March following. Chief Justice Ferguson presided, and during most of the session both associate justices appear to have been in attendance; a part of the time, though, we are informed. Justice Harden was ill, at his lodgings at Bellevue. J. SterHng Morton, of Bellevue, was appointed clerk of the court. On the last day of the term, just before adjournment, on motion of Attorney General Estabrook, a number of applicants were admitted to practice law in the courts of the territory, amongst them being Andrew J. Poppleton, Andrew J. Hanscom, and Silas A. Strickland, all of whom became closely identified with the early history of Nebraska. But, on the whole, this first term of the territorial supreme court was largely a formal matter, for the purpose of eflfecting an organization and keeping the letter of the acting governor's proclamation.

The first term of district court in the new territory was also largely for the same purposes. It was opened at Bellevue, the oldest town in Nebraska, then situated in Douglas county, now in Sarpy county, by Chief Justice Ferguson, as judge of the first territorial judicial district, on the 12th day of March, 1855. Eli R. Doyle, marshal of the territory, was present in his official capacity, and the court appointed Silas A. Strickland, of Bellevue, clerk of the court. Several applications were made for naturalization papers by foreign-born residents of the territory and, no other important business coming before the court, an adjournment was taken until April 12, 1855.

duty of permanently establishing the courts of the territory, defining their jurisdiction and dividing Nebraska into judicial districts, the first legislative assembly, which convened at Omaha on the 16th day of January, 1855, having adopted in part the Iowa code of civil procedure, proceded to enact a body of general laws, amongst which were several acts or parts of acts defining the powers and duties of the several courts of the territory and prescribing their jurisdiction. The legislative enactment constituted the district courts the great trial courts of the territory. They were given exclusive and original jurisdiction of all suits at law and chancery, except such as were within the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace and such matters as were by express enactment committed to the jurisdiction of the probate courts, and for the inferior courts it was given appellate jurisdiction. The supreme court was given appellate jurisdiction in all decrees in chancery, and was a court of last resort to which writs of error could be addressed from all final judgments at law tried by the district courts. In other words, the final judgments and decrees of the members of the court, sitting as judges of the district courts, were subject to review by the entire bench on appeals or writs of error.

Amongst other things, the legislative body divided the territory into three judicial districts, the first of which comprised Washington and Douglas counties; the second, Richardson, Nemaha, Otoe, Cass, Lancaster, Green (now Sew-ard), Clay, Pawnee, Johnson, York and Gage; the third comprised the counties of Dakota, Buflfalo, Cuming, Burt, Dodge, Loupe (now Colfax), Blackbird (now Thurston in part), Izard (now Wayne), Jackson (now the north third of Gage), and McNeal (now Stanton) counties. Chief Justice Ferguson was assigned to the first district. Associate Justice Harden to the second district, and Associate Justice Bradley to the third district. The legislative assembly designated also the time and place for holding court in the three judicial districts. In the second district, it provided that court should be held in the county of Cass on the first Mondays of April and September, in

Otoe county on the second Mondays, in Nemaha county on the third Mondays, and in Richardson county on the fourth Mondays of April and September in each year, and "in all other counties in said district at such times and places as the judge may appoint."

As respects Gage county, there is no known evidence that Associate Justice Harden ever called a term of court in the county. He was a southern gentleman of the old school. He was born and educated in Georgia and was appointed associate justice of the supreme court of the territory of Nebraska in July, 1854, when he was thirty-nine years of age. In May, 1860, he was appointed to a like position in Utah, by James Buchanan, who was then president of the United States. He held the first term of court in his district, as far as known, at Nebraska City, in March, 1855, and left the- territory probably before Gage county had any demand for a term of district court. He returned to Georgia in time to participate in the famous secession convention of that state, in 1861, and on the breaking out of the civil war he enlisted in the Confederate army as commander of a company known as the Dalton Guards ; he was afterward made adjutant of Smith's Legion. He later served as an aide on General Walker's staff, and on the close of the war he resumed the practice of the law, at Cuthbert, Georgia. He served two terms in the legislature of his state, as a representative from Walker county, and held other honorary and remunerative positions. He appears to have been a man of ability and integrity. He died at Quitman, Georgia, in 1884, at the age of sixty-nine years.

There exists no record of the holding of a term of the territorial district court in Gage county prior to the 26th day of November, 1863. Elmer S. Dundy, of Ealls City, was appointed associate justice of the supreme court by Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States, in the early part of 1863, and was assigned to the Second judicial district. The first record in the district-court records of the county, written in Judge Dundy's own hand, reads as follows :

Be It Remembered, that at the Fall adjourned term of the Gage County District Court of Nebraska Territory, held at Beatrice in said County, on the 2Sth day of November, A. D., 1863, the said court having been adjourned from the first Thursday after the first

Elmer S. Dundy, Judge Rienzi Streeter, Clerk, by Oliver Townsend, Deputy, C. B. R. E., Prosecuting Atty., Joseph Kline, Shff. and the following proceedings were had, towit : C. B. R. E- was admitted to practise law in the several District Courts of this Territory, after full examination in open court, he having been first duly sworn, according to law.

On motion of Aug. Schoenheit, J. Wilson Bolinger was admitted, on certificate, to practice law in the several Judicial Districts of this Territory, having been first duly sworn, according to law.

The said sheriff returns into open court the venire heretofore issued for petit jury, and the jury being called, the following named persons were present and answered to their

Most of the business before the court was of slight importance. There wtere three indictments pending for the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors, one for "malicious mischief," and a charge of riot, all of which were dismissed by the prosecuting attorney "C.B. R.E."

The civil business disposed of by Judge Dundy included nineteen cases, one of the important ones being that of Gideon Bennett vs. William W. Dennison. Bennett, the reader will remember, was an Indian trader who followed the Otoe and Missouri Indian tribes from Nebraska City to their Gage county reservation in 1855, and Dennison, the defendant in the case, was the government agent of the Indians until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he left the territory, and afterwards, became identified with the Confederacy. The action was upon a claim for money due tO' plaintiff from defendant, and had been accompanied by an order of attachment which had been levied by the sheriff upon property belonging to Major Dennison. The record shows that the defendant had died during the pendency of the suit, and John W. L,atham had been appointed administrator of his estate. The suit was revived against the administrator and judgment entered for the plaintiff in the sum of three hundred and fifty dollars and costs, the sheriff being directed to sell the attached property in satisfaction of same.

Perhaps the most important case disposed of by the court was that entitled Theodore Hill, Plaintiff, vs. The Central Overland and Pike's Peak Express Company, Defendant. . This action also was upon indebtedness claimed to be due plaintiff from defendant, and the property of defendant, consisting of a number of horses, "two with docked tails" ; a nine-passenger, four-horse coach, named "Red Rover" ; two four-mule teams, and other chattels, had been taken by Sheriff Clyne, in satisfaction of the plaintiff's claim. A jury was waived by both parties to the suit, trial had to the court and judgment entered for plaintiff against the defendant in the sum of $1,395.67, and the sheriff was directed to sell the attached property in satisfaction thereof.

The preliminary entries, after reciting the failure of the county to select a grand jury as by law required, directs the sheriff to call by four o'clock in the afternoon "sixteen good and lawful men, possessing the qualifications of electors in said county, to serve as grand jurors for the present term, according to law in such case made and provided."

As far as the records of the district court go, this appears to have been the first grand jury called in Gage county. The term lasted a single day, but the grand jurors returned indictments against Alexander Dean, for murder in the first degree; Theodore M. Coulter, for embezzlement; and John Fishpaugh, Peter Buckles, Scott Willis and Henry Willis, for assault with intent to commit murder. One of the cases tried and decided by Judge Dundy was the County of Gage vs.Theodore M. Coulter, an action brought by the county to recover agaiiist Coulter the sum of $547.98 embezzled by him while county treasurer. The defendant made default in the case and a judgment was entered for the county against him and his bondsmen for that amount, and he was almost immediately indicted for embezzlement.

Coulter was arrested upon this indictment and he was held a prisoner by the sheriff for nearly three years. There was no jail where he could be kept and the sheriff was compelled to board and care for him at the county's expense. It was often very inconvenient for the sheriff to guard or otherwise hold his prisoner in custody. Following the great Indian raid on the Little Blue river in August, 1864, the sheriff, Joseph Clyne, was a member of a .company from Beatrice who went on an expedition to the stricken section of the territory, to bury the dead and assist in repelling further invasion. He was compelled to take his prisoner along, as he could find no one willing to have him in charge. After the excitment had abated and Coulter's bondsmen had liquidated his defalcation, the expense of providing for the prisoner and of bringing him to trial outweighed all other considerations and by common consent every opportunity was given him to escape. As a prisoner he was very much of a man of leisure, the board was good and he was clothed, fed, and sheltered at public expense. He sensed the situation perfectly, talked largely about his innocence and forcing the county to bring him to trial, and made not the slightest move toward relieving the community of his emabrrassing presence. At last, in sheer desperation, he was placed in the custody of the deputy sheriff, James B. Mattingley, and by the deputy was removed to his home in Rockford township a few miles north of Blue Springs. At this home he received a meager fare and a poor quality of meals. After a few weeks Coulter took the hint and disappeared. No one ever made the slightest effort to apprehend him, and thus ended the first embezzlement case in Gage county.

The indictment of Dean for murder was also largely a farcical matter, though in a more advanced state of society he would no doubt have been immediately arrested and punished. His victim was Spencer Roberts, who owned and lived upon the tract of land where Crab Orchard is now located. He had sold to Andrew Dean, a Dane living on Cub creek, near the "First Homestead," a horse and had taken his note for sixty dollars in settlement for the animal. Roberts, who was a cattlebuyer and stock dealer, called at Dean's house in his absence, to collect the note, and it was alleged he attempted to be familiar with his debtor's wife. She repelled his advances and Roberts left the premises. He afterward returned to- the house and found Dean and his neighbor, Thomas Clyne, engaged in threshing wheat with flails. He was upon the point of leaving when Dean's wife attempted to assault him, and Dean, then learning the identity of the man who had insulted her, his wife claimed, grabbed his flail and rushed to attack Roberts. Clyne stepped between the men and caught Dean's hand when in the act of striking with the flail, but the short end of the bludgeon struck Roberts, fracturing his skull, from which injury he soon expired. No effort was made to apprehend Dean and he soon disappeared. His indictment was more to save the face of the community than for any definite purpose of bringing him to punishment. This was the first murder of a white person in Gage county of which there is any known evidence, and Dean's indictment was the first one returned by a grand jury in the county, all previous criminal prosecutions having been within the jurisdiction of the justice court or, where the offense charged was beyond the jurisdiction of the justice and the offender had been bound over, no indictment or prosecution followed, a procedure illustrated in the actions of the prosecuting attorney in dismissing six criminal cases pending before Judge Dundy at the first term of the Gage county district court in 1863.

Judge Dundy continued to hold the office of associate justice of the territorial supreme court until Nebraska was admitted into the Union, March 1, 1867. At the general election of 1866, in contemplation of the change from territorial to state government, William A. Little, of Omaha, was elected chief justice of the supreme court and George B. Lake and Lorenzo Crounse, both of Omaha, were elected associate justices. Before taking office Little died and his opponent at the election, Oliver P. Mason, of Nebraska City, was appointed by Governor Butler (the first of the state governors) chief justice in his stead, toserve until the next general election, when he was elected chief justice of the supreme court of the state of Nebraska.

By an act of the state legislature, approved June 12, 1867, the boundaries of the judicial districts were changed, and the counties of Richardson, Nemaha, Otoe, Johnson, Pawnee, Gage, Jefferson, Saline, Fillmore, and Nuckolls,, with the unorganized territory to the west, were . designated as the First judicial district. The first term of the Gage county district court after Nebraska territory became the state of Nebraska, was held by Judge Mason, at Beatrice, beginning the 7th day of October,. A.D., 1867. The introductory entries are in Judge Mason's own handwriting, and read as follows :

The following proceedings were had and done: The court having been opened at the time prescribed by law by the sheriff making public proclamation thereof, N. K. Griggs and S. B. Harrington were admitted to practice law in the several District Courts of the State, having been first duly sworn, according to law.

The said sheriff returns in open court a venire heretofore issued for a Grand Jury, and the jury being called, the following named persons were present and answered to their names,

A. Van Buskirk H. D. Lilley H. M. Wickham J. M. Rodgers John Parker H. Hollingworth Alex. Welch Absent J. J. Dunbar and A. D. Sage. A. D. Sage was excused on account of sickness, and Alexander Welch was found not qualified to act as a juror, on account of being a foreigner, and an attachment was ordered for J. J. Dunbar.

The following named persons were then summoned by the sheriff to serve as Grand Jurors and fill the panel, to wit : F. E. Roper, Christian Euster and George H. Ross.

After the Grand Jurors had all been examined by the Court touching their qualifications as such, H. M. Wickham was duly sworn as Foreman of the Grand Jury, after which the other Grand Jurors were all sworn in the oath provided by law, and after being charged by the Court retired in charge of Daniel Freeman, a sworn bailiff, to consider their indictments and their presentments.

The said sheriff also returned into open court a venire heretofore issued for a petit jury, and the jury being called, the following named persons were present and answered to their names, to-wit:

As far as disclosed by the records this was the first petit jury ever empaneled in the district court in Gage county. The term lasted two days and it must have run day and night, as a large amount of business was transacted by Judge Mason. Amongst the cases tried by him at this term was that of Hester Drown vs.

George W. Drown, action for divorce. It was tried on the last day of the term, September 9th, and a divorce was denied the plaintiff and awarded the defendant, on account of plaintiff's proved moral deliquencies. This was the first divorce suit ever tried in Gage county.

After empaneling the jury the following order was made by the court : "Ordered that the sheriff of Gage county purchase for the use of the district court within and for Gage county, twelve chairs of good and substantial material and make, and that the same be pur-

Within the two days' session of the court occurred the trial of The People of the State of Nebraska vs. John Fishpaugh, Peter Buckles and John Scott Willis, indicted for riot. The jury empaneled to try the case were Jacob W. Mumford, Jacob Hildebrand, Frederick Sprague, James Kinzie, James Plucknett, Alfred Snell, Robert Nicholas, V. S. Whittemore, John Hillman, F. H. Dobbs, David Palmer, and John Lyons.

"After hearing the evidence introduced as well on the part of said prisoners as on the part of the People of the State of Nebraska, and after hearing the arguments of counsel and the charge of the court, the jury retired in charge of a sworn officer to consider their verdict. And after consulting and deliberating thereon, returned into court the following verdict :

'We, the jury, find the defendants, John Fishpaugh, Peter Buckles and John Scott Willis, guilty as they stand charged in the indictment. F. H. Dobbs, Foreman'."

From 1867 to 1873 Judge Mason, chief justice of the supreme court, was the district judge of the First judicial district of Nebraska, and was succeeded by Daniel Gantt. The state supreme court retained its original territorial organization until the adoption of the present state constitution, in 1875. By its provision, district judges were elected and members of the supreme court ceased to be trial judges in the judicial districts. The first district judge of the First judicial district under the constitution was Archibald J. Weaver, of Falls City. He was elected to this ofiice at the general election in 1875 and reelected in 1879. Before his second term expired, at the general election in 1883, he was elected to the Forty-eighth congress from the old First congressional district, and in the fall of 1885 he was reelected, to the Forty-ninth congress. He was a man of great force of character, of indefatigable energy and of unquestioned integrity of character. He was kindly, generous, hospitable, and one of the most companionable of men. He was of such striking appearance and commanding physique as to attract attention in any crowd. His career as a judge ill the old First judicial district will never be forgotten while a single member of the bar of that district who appeared in his court remains alive. His power in the dispatch of judicial business was phenomenal and his court ran at high pressure by day and a part of every night. He had remarkable sagacity in divining the intents and purposes of men and any crooked or fraudulent deal never got by him, so far as any lawyer ever knew. He contracted a slight attack of pneumonia and, after an illness of three days, died April 18, 1887, when in the prime of life and ere he had approached the zenith of his great powers and usefulness. Perhaps no man in Nebraska had been so showered with honors and few, if any, ever had a future of greater possibilities.

Judge Broady served the district most faithfully for four years. Before the expiration of his term of office the legislature of 1887 authorized the election of two judges for the First judicial district, and at the fall election that year Judge Broady was reelected, and with him Thomas Appleget, of Tecumseh. At the close of his term of office Judge Broady retired from the bench, honored and respected by the entire bar of the First judicial district, having for eight busy years given power, dignity and honor to the bench of the district. He had been living in Beatrice for three or four years but in 1901 he removed to Lincoln and re-engaged in the practice of the law. He died a few years ago, mourned by almost the entire state.

In 1891 the legislature redistricted the state ai- respects the judicial districts. The boundaries of the old First judicial district of Weaver's and Broady's day, which comprised Richardson, Nemaha, Johnson, Pawnee and Gage, was changed to include Jefferson county. The provision for the election of two judges in the district was retained, and at the general election of 1891 Albert H. Babcock and James E. Bush, both of Beatrice, were elevated to the judicial district bench. In 1895 Charles B. Letton, of Fairbury, and John S. Stull, of Auburn, were elected judges of the district, and each was reelected in 1899. At the election of 1903 Albert H. Babcock, of Beatrice, and W. H. Kellegar, of Auburn, were elected district judges of the First judicial district. Before his term of office expired Judge Babcock died, and John B. Raper, of Pawnee City, was appointed by Governor Mickey to fill out his unexpired term. At the fall election of 1907 Eeander M. Pemberton and John B. Raper were elected, and both have by successive elections held ,this important office till the present moment.

In 1911 the legislature, by a reapportionment of the judicial districts, created district No. 18, consisting of Gage and Jefferson counties, and Judge Pemberton was assigned for service to this district. He is the present incumbent of the office- Speaking generally, the judges of the district court of the several judicial districts to which Gage county has belonged have been lawyers of ability and of great worth of character. Some were called to even higher service than the district judicial bench. Judge Dundy was, in 1868, elevated to the bench of the Federal district court of Nebraska, and he occupied that position until his death, October 28, 1896. Judge Weaver passed from the district court bench to a seat in congress ; Judge Gantt was elected a justice of the supreme court in 1867 and at the time of his demise, in 1878, was chief justice of that great court; Judge Letton, after nearly eight years' service on the district bench of the First judicial district, was, in November, 1903, appointed one of the supreme-court commissioners, and in 1905 he was elected a justice of the supreme court of the state, a position he has since held. He is a candidate for a second reelection, with every prospect of success.

The bar as a branch of the American system of jurisprudence was given standing by the first general assembly of the territory of Nebraska in an act approved March 9, 1855, entitled "An act regulating the admission of attorneys." It is very brief. The first section provides that "any person twenty-one years of age who can produce satisfactory evidence of a, good moral character and pass an examination before either the judges of the district court or before the justices of the supreme court of this territory, shall be licensed to practice as an attorney at law and solicitor in chancery in all the courts in this territory." And, as a sort of afterthought, the second section of the act provides that "every citizen of this territory may attend to his own cases in all said courts."

At the third session of the legislative assembly, begun and held at Omaha January 15, 1857, a code of civil procedure was adopted for the territory, in which the law regarding attorneys and counselors at law was formulated very much as it now appears in the statutes of our state. Under these statutes there has been from almost the first an able, patriotic and trustworthy bar in Nebraska. No class of citizens has contributed as much toward the general welfare, the formulation and enactment of wise and wholesome laws, the enforcement of law and order and the maintenance of a high standard of moral character in the community. No other profession excels the lawyers in breadth of learning and ability. The Nebraska bar has always been an influential factor in the public affairs of our state and nation, and in every walk of life it has made a record in which all of its members may feel a just pride. Gage county and the city of Beatrice are monuments to the courage, daring and prevision of a few lawyers, who, with others, gathered into an association in 1857, on board the old Missouri River steamboat "Hannibal," and resolved to remain together and share their fortunes in the new territory of Nebraska. The senior of these in point of age and experience was John Fitch Kinney, who ha4 already acquired reputation as a politician, law-maker, judge and advocate in the states of Ohio and Iowa, and who was the first president of the Nebraska Association, which became in effect the Beatrice Townsite Company. The secretary of this organization was a young man from the state of New York, just entering upon the practice of the law, - scholarly, courtly John McConihe, whose brilliant career as a lawyer and soldier terminated on the bloody field of Cold Harbor, in 1864. Bennett Pike, a lawyer of rare ability and a man of most affable temperament and great worth of character, was the third of this group of lawyers, wbo, in a sister state, achieved undying fame in a learned bar in a great city. To these were joined Jefferson B. Weston, who became one of the most distinguished citizens of our state; Obediah B. Hewett, one of the early district attorneys of the old First judicial district of Nebraska and an honored citizen for many years of Nemaha county; and Phineas W. Hitchcock, whose abilities as a lawyer won him senatorial honors in the congress of the United States.

From the first settlement of Gage county, her citizens were largely dependent upon outside counsel for such legal services as were required in those primitive days. Bolinger & Rumbaugh, at Marysville, Kansas, were frequently employed by people of Gage county in handling their affairs. Judge Isham Reavis, the father of Congressman Frank Reavis, was one of the early settlers of Richardson county, and for many years was an active practitioner in the courts of our county, as was also Thomas B. Stevenson, of Nebraska City.

The first resident lawyer of Gage county was Jefferson B. Weston, who was admitted to the bar and authorized to practice his profession about 1862, after having pursued a course of legal studies in Chicago, Illinois. But Mr. Weston found life on the plains more attractive than life in a law office in a primitive community. For several years he engaged in freighting along the Oregon Trail, and in trade and other business ventures in the far west. It was not until about 1868, when the government land office was removed from Brownville to Beatrice and the country began to fill up rapidly with homeseekers, that Mr. Weston settled down to the practice of his profession. In 1873 he was elected, for a four-year term, to the office of state auditor of Nebraska, and was reelected for two years. On his election he moved to Lincoln, where he resided until 1880, when he returned to Beatrice and engaged in the banking business. After his election to office he abandoned the practice of law altogether.

Perhaps the most picturesque character who ever assumed to practice law in Gage county was "C. B. R. E." This man had been Charles C. Coffinberry. He had reared a family, almost all grown, to each of whom he had given alliterative names. His eldest son was Cyrian C. Coffinberry; his second son, Crosby C. Coffinberry; his third son, Corwin C. Coffinberry; his fourth son was Carter C. Coffinberry; and his handsome and very amiable daughter was Caroline C. Coffinberry, who became the wife of E. B. Hendy, one of the early sheriffs of the county. The head of the family, while a member of the Wisconsin legislature, had procured a legislative enactment authorizing him thereafter to appear as plain Mr. C. C. Berry, but his entire family repudiated this shortening of the family cognomen, and insisted upon being known as Coffinberry. This was the first family to locate on the Big Blue river in Rockford township. In the spring of 1858 they settled on the claim which was afterward the homestead of James Hollingworth, and is now owned by his son Charles, a mile and a half south of Holmesville. The eccentricities of this family were a never failing source of gossip and entertainment to the early settlers. ' Nothing could better illustrate this characteristic than the performance of the head of the family as a member of the bar in Gage county. As far as the Tecords show, he was the first lawyer admitted to practice in the county, yet his name is not given, only the initials "C.B.R.E." He acted as district attorney during the first term of district court held in the county, appearing for the people in six criminal cases, where in every instance it is gravely written by Judge Dundy "The prosecuting attorney, C. B. R. E., enters a nolle prosequi, by leave of the court first had and obtained." He served repeatedly on election boards, drew money from the county treasury, executed and witnessed instruments by these initials, and even went so far as to sign the bond of County Treasurer Theodore M. Coulter for $10,000, and was sued upon this bond as C. B. R. E., the same having been approved by the county commissioners. For years, as far as the records show, this singfular representative of the legal profession of our county marched across the pages of its history as "C. B. R. E." Salmasius Bardwell Harrington was the first lawyer to open and maintain an office in Beatrice. He was born at Maysville, Chautauqua county, New York, April 16, 1829, the son of Asa and Mary (Swift) Harrington, ffis primary education was received in a New York Quaker school. His father died while he was a child and his mother became the wife of Parley Laflin. The family removed to Illinois in 1840, residing at first in Kane county and then in Rock Island county. He worked on a farm, attended public school, and finally entered Woodward College, at Cincinnati, Ohio Later he read law with' an uncle, Eben Harrington, and at the age of nineteeji, was admitted to the bar, at Rock Island, Illinois. He engaged briefly in the practice of the law there, but his family moved to Nebraska territory in 1857, and he came with them, and located in Johnson county, near Gage, a few miles northwest of Crab Orchard, where his half-brother, Louis Laflin, still resides and where his stepfather and mother died many years ago. In 1859 he followed the gold lure to Pike's Peak, and, returning, established a ranch on the Little Blue river, at the eastern end of the Nine Mile Ridge. Here he remained a year in the midst of the exciting scenes on the Oregon Trail; he then sold his ranch to a man named Ewing and returned to Illinois, to his wife and daughter. In 1861 he enlisted in the Fifty-eighth Illinois Infantry, and he was captured at the battle of Shiloh, while serving in General Prentice's Division.

He was held a prisoner in Libby Prison, from which he was finally exchanged and rejoined his regiment, with which he served until Lee surrendered, at Appomattox. In the fall of 1865 he returned to Nebraska territory, made arrangements for his family to join him, and settled at once in the practice of the law at Beatrice. He was not formally admitted to the bar of the territory, however, until the regular fall term of the district court, October 7, 1867, due no doubt to the irregularity of the sessions of the court.

He was an active, aggressive lawyer, aflfable in manner and made and retained friends. From 1865 until his death, much of the legal business of the county was transacted by him. He died suddenly, in his office in Beatrice, August 25, 1870, and his remains lie in a secluded spot, now almost unidentified, in the Beatrice cemetery. He was a man of many excellent qualities and great worth of character. He died at the age of forty-one years, an age when most men approach the zenith of their powers and usefulness and at a time when the new state of Nebraska contained boundless possibilities for men of his profession.

In the spring of 1869, came Nathan K. Griggs, a young man who had but recently been admitted to the bar in the state of Indiana. In June of that year he opened an office in Beatrice, but as a school teacher he found a more lucrative and a more certain means of sustenance than the law afiforded. He was but a beginner in his profession, without means, and litigation was not only scarce in Gage county but was as yet a luxury. He accepted the position of village school-master for the winter of 1867-1868, and thereby did more, perhaps, to ingratiate himself in public favor than by any other course he could possibly have taken. Although a man of many activities and engaging on other occupations, beginning with 1869, Mr. Griggs found ample employment for his abilities as a rising young lawyer.

also opened a law office in the village of Beatrice. Numbers 8, Vol. I, of the Blue Valley Record, under date of August 26, 1868, carried under the heading "Professional" the card of Jefferson B. Weston, who announced himself as a notary public, conveyancer, realestate agent and lawyer. Another card reads, "S. B. Harrington, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Real Estate Agent," and the third and last is "N. K. Griggs, Attorney and Counselor at law and Real Estate Agent." To these announcements, there was added, in the 22d number of the same volume of the Courier, under date of December 5, 1868, the following: "H. P. Webb, Attorney and Counselor at Law." At the same time there appeared in the Record the professional card of Stephenson & Hayward, of Nebraska City, who, among other things, announce that they "will practice in the courts of Gage county." Volume 1, No. 1 of the Beatrice Clarion, the successor of the Blue Valley Record, under date of May 8, 1869, contains the following professional card : "W. H. Ashby, Attorney and Counselor at Law and Real Estate Agent, Beatrice, Nebraska," and the public is informed also that Mr. Ashby will make collections and pay taxes for non-residents, while Stephenson & Hayward continue to announce that they "will practice in the courts of Gage county."

By 1869 this group of pioneer lawyers had found the government land office the chief source of professional business and income, and they became expert in the law and rules of practice regulating contests involving entries of public lands.

About 1870 the Gage county bar, as thus composed, was augmented by the advent of Smith C. B. Dean, and for several years he and the others named, constituted the bar of Gage county. They were all able and scholarly men, all achieved success in their profession, and all, with the exception of Ashby, have long since paid the great debt of nature.

A brief sketch of S. E. Harrington already appears in this chapter, aAd elsewhere in this volume will be found sketches of Weston and Webb,- while in the biographical department, in the sketch of Samuel Rinaker, will be found

William H. Ashby was for many years a distinguished member of the Gage county bar. He was born in Livingston county, Missouri, in 1841 and grew to manhood in that state. Having obtained a good, usable education, he was on the point of entering upon a professional career when the great Civil war cut short all plans of a purely personal nature. He followed the fortunes of the southern Confederacy, at first attaching himself 'to the command of General Sterling Price, and took part in the battles of Pea Ridge, luka, and Corinth. He served in the armies of the south until the close of the war, was seriously wounded during the siege of Vicksburg, was promoted to a captaincy, and on the collapse of the Confederacy he was paroled, May 16, 1865. Within that year he came to Nebraska City and engaged in the practice of the law. In 1869 he moved to Beatrice and with J. M. Hoggshead purchased a half-interest in the Blue Valley Record, changed the name of the paper to the Beatrice Clarion, and, with Hoggshead, Nelson and Howard, conducted the paper as an independent publication until it was sold to Theodore Coleman, in the spring of 1870, and the name changed to the Beatrice Express. For a period of six eventful and busy years Captain Ashby here successfully practised his profession as a lawyer. In June, 1875, he was appointed, by President Grant, a member of the Sioux Indian Commission and spent that summer and fall amongst the Indians of South Dakota. The commission having negotiated with the Sioux a treaty of purchase for the Black Hills region,' Captain Ashby was dispatched to Washington as the bearer of its report. In June, 1877, he was sent by our government as its special representative to Panama, the West Indies, and South America, to investigate and report upon certain abuses in the importation of sugar. He was recalled from this service in 1878, and, returning to Beatrice, he resumed the practice of the law. In 1881 he became interested in the rising city of Wymore. With Samuel Wymore he purchased a tract of land adjoining the original townsite and laid it out as an addition to the city. Having sold his Wymore property at good figures he, in 1886, returned to Beatrice and again resumed the practice of his profession.

Captain Ashby was thrice married, first to Miss Coila B. Lambkin, of Mississippi, in 1865 ; second, to Miss Lilla Shaw, July 4, 1879, from both of whom he was divorced. His third marriage proved a happy and congenial one, the issue of which was two sons and a daughter. About 1912 he removed to the state of California, and he is now hving in the city of Berkeley, under the shadow of the great State University of California. His two sons are in the service of the United States in the present great world war. Captain Ashby is a man of commanding presence, a good friend, a loyal citizen, and a lawyer of more than ordinary ability.

Smith C. B. Dean was by birth, education and training, a Canadian. Before coming to Nebraska he had already acquired reputation and standing as a lawyer in .the courts of Canada. His health failing there, he came to the new territory of Nebraska in the vain hope of eradicating from his system the germs of pulmonary consumption. He was a man of fine presence, possessed an excellent education and was endowed with abilities of a very high order. He was a lawyer of great learning and industry, and the pleadings and other legal documents drawn by him were models of brevity and clearness. He was about forty years of age, and on his arrival in Beatrice he formed a co-partnership in the practice of the law with Jeflferson B. Weston, their office being on the ground floor, beneath the United States land office, in the Saunders store building, now No. 309 Court street. Mr. Dean took a deep interest in the general welfare of the community, was very public-spirited, and lent his assistance to the upbuilding of Beatrice and Gage county at a time when such services as he willingly rendered were of the greatest value. He was the first mayor of the city of Beatrice, in 1873, and was a potent factor in shaping its destiny. He acquired great influence in the community, and at the time of

About 1872 the bar of Gage county received several notable accessions. In April of that year E. Sanborn Chadwick and Alfred Hazlett were both admitted to practice, and in 1873 Leonard W. Colby, Louis B. Sale, and William H. Somers were licensed in the practice of the law and identified themselves with the Gage county bar.

Mr. Chadwick was the first police judge of the city of Beatrice. He remained here but a short time, made but small impression on the community, and left here many years ago, locating in Bloomington, Nebraska, where he was for several years county judge of his county. He died there many years ago.

Mr. Sale had been a classmate of Leonard W. Colby in the University of Wisconsin and they began professional life together here as partners. He remained here but a short time, returning to Wisconsin, where he achieved professional success and where political honors came to him, amongst others, a seat in congress, to which he was repeatedly elected. While still a comparatively young man, he lost his life while bathing on a Wisconsin lake. Seeing his two sons struggling in the water for their lives, he rushed to their rescue and all were drowned.

William H. S'omers came to Gage county in 1872 and was for many years a leading citizen of Beatrice, but he achieved no reputation as a lawyer, other things diverting his attention and energies. He served one term in the legislature, as a float representative from Gage and other counties. In 1881 he was appointed receiver of the United States government land office at Beatrice. At the close of his term of office, in 1886, he removed with his family to California and opened a large fruit ranch in El Cajon valley, severiteen miles up the coast from San Diego. Several years ago he disposed of this property and moved to San Diego, where he was killed, about 1908, in a streetcar accident.

the practice until his death, in 1916. He did not aspire to great eminence in the legal profession but chose rather, whenever possible, to combine it with some clerical or other occupation. He was for some time clerk of the district court, during the incumbency of Judge Gantt. He was county judge of Gage county for four years, and in the latter part of his life, for a number of years, he was deputy assessor; following the general election of 1911, on the death of A. K. Smith, who had been elected county assessor, Mr. Enlow was appointed to that office, and he was the last of the county assessors. He was a warm-hearted, generous man, much esteemed by all who knew^ him.

William M. Forbes was born February 28, 1847, near Greensburg, Indiana. He came to Beatrice in July, 1876, and settled in the practice of the law. He was a graduate of the law department of the Iowa State University, class of 1874, and had been a school teacher in Burlington, Iowa. He served, by appointment, as county judge of Gage county for the unexpired term of J. M. Carter, in 1878, and in 1879 he formed a law partnership with' Judge Eeander M. Peml>erton. After several years' successful practice at the bar of Gage county Mr. Forbes removed to Topeka, where he has been a prominent member of the bar of that city. He was possessed of considerable means for a western lawyer and on his arrival in Beatrice he erected an elegant home for those early days, on the corner of Fifth and Lincoln streets, opposite the Episcopal church. He and his wife were active members of the Methodist church and were important factors in the social life of the city in that early day.

Charles O. Bates was a briliant young man who entered the law office of Colby & Hazlett in 1875 ; he was admitted to the bar about 1878, and at the same time to an interest in the business of his preceptors. His success as a lawyer and politician was immediate. In 1890 he was elected county attorney of Gage county, but he resigned before the expiration of his term of office and, leaving Beatrice, finally settled, about 1891, in Tacoma,

Albert Hardy came to Beatrice in February, 1878, from the state of New York, where he had been for many years engaged in the practice of his profession, at Sandy creek, Oswego^ county. He was about forty years of age and ill his prime. But for some eccentricities of character, he might easily have been the head of the Gage county bar and a successful practitioner of the law. He sometimes tried cases well and often won where he should have failed, and, everything considered, he was fairly successful as a lawyer. With the exception of a year or two in Denver, Mr. Hardy followed his calling in Beatrice from the time of his arrival here until about 1906. He then went to Pierre, South Dakota, to live, and a few years ago he passed away, aged about eighty years.

Andrew J. Hale was for several years a prominent member of the Gage county bar. He was born in Chittenden county, near Burlington, Vermont, March 8, 1842. He received a general education in the common schools of his native state and in Fairfax Institute, at Burlington, where he spent three years as a student. About 1865 he graduated from the law department of Union College (now University), at Albany, New York, and in 1867 he located in Nebraska City in the practice of his profession; in 1876 he came to Beatrice and opened a law office. In the early '80s he was in partnership with Albert Hardy. In 1886, haying inherited a considerable fortune, he purchased, amongst other real estate, a half-section of land a few miles southwest of Beatrice, abandoned the practice of the law and engaged in farming and stock-raising. This venture proving a failure and having lost most of his property, about 1885, he left the county and returned to Nebraska City, where he died a few years ago.

Thomas Farrar Burke, a young lawyer from New England settled at Blue Springs in 1879. Mr. Burke was the possessor of a good education, was a man of great energy, and rapidly acquired a practice at the bar of Gage county. About 1882 Frank N. Prout came to the county, first to Beatrice and later to Blue Springs, where he formed a law partnership with Mr. Burke. Both were good lawyers, both ambitious and both afifable gentlemen. They were prominent at our bar for a number of years and as lawyers performed a real service to the people of the state of Nebraska in the case of the State on the Relation of Mattoon versus The Republican Valley Railroad Company, reported in Volume 17 of the Nebraska Supreme Court Reports, at page 647. This was an action in mandamus, brought in the supreme court of Nebraska, to compel the railroad company to build within the corporate limits of Blue Springs a depot and put in the necessary sidetracks and switches for a station, and to stop its trains there for the proper transaction of business. The Crete branch of the railroad line had been extended to Wymore through Blue Springs, but the company refused to afford railroad facilities to Blue Springs, while at the same time affording its rival every possible support. The writ of mandamus was allowed against the defendant and it was compelled to furnish the city of Blue Springs with service, thereby establishing the rule that no common carrier could unjustly discriminate against a municipal corporation in Nebraska.

About twenty years ago Mr. Burke removed from Nebraska to Wyoming and located at Cheyenne, where he has attained both professional success and distinguished honors as a lawyer, having served the state of Wyoming for several years as its attorney general, and for many years has served as a member of the board of regents for the Wyoming State University.

Mr. Prout removed to Beatrice after the dissolution of the copartnership and was for a number of years city attorney ; in 1898 he was elected to the state senate, from Gage county. In 1900 he was elected attorney general of the slate of Nebraska and, by a reelection, he served the people in the important office four years, beginning January 1, 1901. Since retiring from office he has practised law in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and in Fairbury and Humboldt,

Nathan T. Gadd came to Gage county about 1880, and located in the practice of the law at Liberty. Mr. Gadd was an active and very useful man in his community. For several years he was an important factor not only in Liberty but in the county of Gage, and from a mere youthful beginner in the law he grew into an important and lucrative practice. When the great northwest was being rapidly settled and the Burlington Railroad was pushing a line across northern Nebraska and through to the Puget Sound country, he went to Broken Bow, in Custer county, Nebraska, where he became active in the practice of his profession. Mr. Gadd is an impulsive, warm-hearted, courtly gentleman, much esteemed by his professional brethren and given to many kindly, generous acts.

William H. Richards was admitted to the bar of Gage county about 1895. He was a man of limited education but proved to be a very good business lawyer. He is a member of a pioneer family in Pawnee county, his parents having located at the head of Turkey creek, in that county, in 1859. They were people of sterling worth of character and Mr. Richards inherited from them many of the family characteristics. From the time of his admission to the bar until he left Gage county he practised his profession at Liberty, while at the same time engaging in other pursuits. About 1908 he left the county and located at Humboldt, in the practice of the law, and later he removed to Wichita, Kansas.

W. V. A. Dodds was admitted to the Gage county bar in 1885 ; his practice however was very limited, as he gave his attention largely to outside matters. For several years he conducted a large farm in Gage county and later he went to Montana, where he is now located in business.

George M. Johriston came tO' Beatrice about 1890. He erected a paper mill near the city, placed a dam across the Big Blue river and proceeded to build up a business as a paper manufacturer. But a flood, in 1902, destroyed the water power, and the enterprise Was aban- doned. Mr. Johnston then engaged in the practice of the law, having been previously admitted to the bar in the state of Illinois. He was successful in his professional work and was an active member of the bar of Gage county for several years. Later he went to Missouri, where he engaged in various enterprises, and he died about 1912.

Menzo Terry, a farmer, near Pickrell, who had been previously admitted to the bar, was elected county attorney, on the Democratic ticket, in 1905 and served one term in that ofifice, during which time and for a year or two afterward he was in partnership with Fred O. McGirr. In 1910 he left this state and he is now located on a fruit farm in southern California.

Robert S. Bibb came from the Peoria, Illinois, bar to the Gage county bar in 1884. Mr. Bibb had been a member of the Illinois legislature and a practicing attorney at Peoria. Shortly after his arrival here he formed a copartnership with W. V. A. Dodds, in the practice of the law, and about 1890 he entered the firm of Griggs & Rinaker, which was thereafter known as Griggs, Rinaker & Bibb. On the removal of Mr. Griggs to Lincoln, in 1893, the firm name was changed to Rinaker & Bibb. This firm did a large and very successful legal business until Mr. Bibb's death, which occurred May 17, 1907. Mr. Bibb was the first county attorney of Gage county, having been elected to that office in 1885. He was very prominent in the business, professional and social life of Beatrice during his entire residence here. He was an unusually good lawyer, one of the ablest trial lawyers the bar of Gage county has ever produced. Personally he was genial, kindly and considerate. He was popular with the court and with his professional associates. His final resting place is in Evergreen Home cemetery, and the spot is marked by a rugged monument which, in a sense, is indicative of his character.

George Arthur Murphy came to Beatrice from Indiana about the year 1886, and engaged at once in the practice of his profession. His success was immediate, and while he lived here he had a large and paying clientage. In 1891 he was elected county attorney of Gage county, and he was reelected in 1893. In 1898 he was elected state senator from Gage county. In 1901 Mr. Murphy removed to the state of Oklahoma and located at Muscogee, where he has since resided. He has been successful in his profession and has acquired wealth.

W. C. LeHane came to Gage county about the year 1890 and for a while was a law partner of George Arthur Murphy. In 1896 he was appointed receiver of the Beatrice Savings Bank, and his duties as receiver absorbed his time to such an extent that he practically abandoned the practice of the law. He so managed the affairs of the bank as to pay ninety cents on the dollar of its indebtedness: After the adjustment of the receivership, Mr. LeHane went to Idaho, where for a time he engaged in the practice of his profession at Boise City. Later he removed to California, and he is now living near San Francisco, in the Sacramento valley.

Charles E. Bush is a son of Judge James E. Bush. He is a graduate of the Beatrice high school, studied law in his father's office and was admitted to the bar of Gage county about the year 1891. He later removed to Oklahoma and for several years he has been located in the successful practice of the law at Tulsa, that state.

Jean Cobbey, a son of Judge J. E. Cobbey, was born in Gage county, graduated from the Beatrice high school, attended the State University of Nebraska and took a course in the law and was admitted to the bar. He began the practice of his profession in Beatrice in 1911 and in 1912 was elected county attorney of Gage county. He was defeated for reelection in 1914 and shortly thereafter removed to Nebraska City. Later he sought service in the army on the Mexican border, and when our government entered the world war, in April, 1917, he was serving as chaplain of his regiment, but he recently resigned and is now with the colors in France.

profession there with E. N. Kauffman, his brother-in-law. He later removed to Omaha, where for several years he was an active member of the bar. He then located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and is now a prominent member of the bar at that place.

Thomas D. Cobbey located in Beatrice in the practice of his profession in 1882. Shortly thereafter he moved to Wymore and he was actively engaged in the practice of the law there for a number of years, successfully transacting a large volume of legal business. Several years ago he moved to Denver, Colorado, and he is now one of the successful and wealthy lawyers of that city.

James A. Smith came from Iowa City to Beatrice in 1879. He was born at Geneva, Illinois, November 22, 1844. On the breaking out of the Civil war he enlisted in the First Missouri Cavalry, at St. Louis, in September, 1861. He was wounded in the battle of Sugar Creek, Arkansas, February 19, 1862, lost his right arm at the shoulder and a finger of his left hand, and was discharged September 22, 1862. He read law in the office of Governor Kirkwood of Iowa and married Calista Saunders, of Iowa City, November 23, 1868. Shortly after coming to Beatrice he was elected police judge of the city, an office which he held for several years. He died in Beatrice many years ago and his remains are buried in Evergreen Home cemetery.

John N. Richards was born in Adams county, Ohio, February 22, 1850. In 1856 he went to lyaSalle county, Illinois, and in that state as a youth he engaged in farming. Having obtained a common-school education, he spent some time in the Wesleyan University at Bloomington, Illinois. He came to Nebraska in 1874 and located at Falls City, where he was principal of the city schools. He removed to Beatrice in 1877 and entered upon the practice of the law, in which he was fairly successful. He left Beatrice several years ago, and is now located at Colorado City, Colorado.

Albert H. Babcock was born at Bath, Steuben county, New York, in 1846, and when quite young was taken by his parents to Michigan, where he lived until he came to Nebraska. He learned the trade of a blacksmith and was a successful artisan. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, Eighteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and he was afterward promoted to the captaincy of Company E of that regiment. He continued in the service until July, 1865, having been in all the battles and marches of his command. He graduated from the law department of the Michigan University with the class of 1868, and located at Pawnee City, Nebraska, in the practice of the law, in October, 1869. There he achieved a great measure of success in his profession. In February, 1880, he moved to Beatrice and opened a law office, and for many years he was prominent in the litigation of Gage county. He was a member of the Nebraska legislature in 1873-1874, and he served both Pawnee City and Beatrice as city attorney. In 1891 he was elected district judge of the First judicial district, and served four years; he was again elected in 1903, and he served until his death, which occurred in 1907, His remains lie in Evergreen Home cemetery. As a lawyer Judge Babcock was an able counselor, careful and systematic in all he did; as a judge he upheld the best traditions of the bench, and as a man. he led a blameless life in the sight of God and of all men.

James E. Bush was born in Rockville, Indiana, June 1, 1845, living there and in Kentucky until he was three years old. While he was still an infant his father died, in the Mexican war; his mother dying shortly afterward, he began life as an orphan. His elder brothers and sisters held the family together, moved from Kentucky to Peoria, Illinois, where they lived five years, and thence to Wyoming, Stark county, Illinois, in the spring of 1853. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted in the service of the United States, in the One Hundred and Twelfth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and he served until the close of the war. He was mustered out of the service in Chicago, in July, 1865, and returned to Wyoming, Illinois. He began the study of law in 1872, in the office of Miles A. Fuller, of Toulon, Illinois, and, having passed a satis- factory examination in the supreme court of that state, he was admitted to the bar June 5, 1875. He began the practice of his profession at Bradford, Stark county, Ilhnois. On May 6, 1880, he came to Beatrice and associated himself with John N. Richards. When this partnership was dissolved, in 1884, he formed a partnership with Leander M. Pemberton. In 1891, with Judge Babcock, he was elected to the district bench in the old First judicial district, and he served four years. He was defeated for reelection in 1895, and died in Beatrice on the 14th day of April, 1900. His remains lie in Beatrice cemetery and those of his beloved wife were, in September, 1917, laid by his side. Their resting place is marked by a tasteful monument.

Joseph Elliott Cobbey was born in the state of Missouri, in 1853, and when a child was taken by his parents to Benton county, Iowa, where he grew to manhood. He obtained a good education in the common schools of Iowa and at the State Agricultural College, situated in the little city of Ames. While still a very young man he entered the college of law in the University of Iowa, from which institution he graduated with honor in 1877, and he came almost immediately to Beatrice. He was employed for a while in the county treasurer's oiifice, by his uncle, Hiram P. Webb, also in the bank of Hiram P. Webb & Company. In 1878 he began the active practice of his profession and he continued therein until his death, on the 22d day of August, 1911. He soon achieved a commanding position at the bar of his county and state, and for thirty-four years this quiet, unassuming, pioneer lawyer carried on an extended and diversified practice in the courts of this state and the federal courts.

He was prominent in city and county affairs and in the Republican party, to which he belonged. In 1879 he was elected to the office of county judge, and served two years. He was defeated for renomination by his party, and again engaged in the active practice of the law. During his professional career he served the city of Beatrice one term of two years as city attorney and was four years a member of the common council of this city. Wherever placed and whatever he did, his life and labors were characterized by the utmost fidelity of purpose and he became one of the most useful and respected citizens of our county.

In 1889 Judge Cobbey turned in a measure from the practical side of his profession and sought wealth and honor by digging about the roots and strengthening the foundations of the law itself. In 1890 he published a textbook on the "Eaw of Replevin" ; he revised it in 1893, and it is everywhere in this country regarded by the courts and the legal profes^ sion as standard authority upon that subject. Later appeared his textbook on the "Law of Chattel Mortgages," in two large volumes, equal, at least, in authority to any other American textbook on that subject. In 1901 Judge Cobbey turned his attention to the business of statute-making, and that year appeared "Cobbey's Annotated Code of Nebraska." These well known contributions to the law of the land are alone sufficient to constitute an enduring monument to his memory.

In the year 1891 Judge Cobbey was employed by- the legislature of Nebraska to compile and publish the statutes of the state, and that body appropriated the sum of twelve thousand dollars to assist him in the work. This is known as the "Consolidated Statutes of Nebraska for 1891." It was followed by the "Consolidated Statutes of 1893." Both editions were annotated, and both appeared under legislative sanction as the authorized statutes of the state. These were followed by similar statutes for the years 1905, 1907, 1909, 1911. The last work came from the press ojily a few days prior to his death. "Cobbey's Statutes for 1911" was monumental in character. It is as nearly perfect, probably, as any work of that kind could be. In addition to his indefatigable labors as annotator and publisher of the Nebraska statutes. Judge Cobbey was employed by the legislature of New Mexico, a couple of years prior to his death, to codify the laws of that new state, and he spent nearly a year in that important, and to him agreeable, task, in the old city of Santa Fe. From this brief sketch of his life, it is evident that no other Nebraska lawyer has

McMuIlen; Leander M. Pemberton; Samuel Rinaker ; Robert W. Sabin ; Harry E. Sackett ; Franklin D. Sheldon; Walter A. Vasey; and Herbert D. Walden. Biographical sketches appear in this volume of most of the lawyers here named.

In point of ability, integrity, learning and worth of character the bar of Gage county has always compared most favorably with that of other counties of the state. From its ranks have come judges, legislators, authors, soldierSj di^lomits. Not greedy 'of wealth and avaricious only of hotior and the opportunity of service, the lawyers of our county have stead-' ily' maintained the' best, traditions 'of this noble and learned profession.