412                 HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY

within a quarter of a mile of his borne. He was known to have as much
as $500 in cash on his person, while at Brunswick, none of which was
found with his body. It was generally believed that he had buried or
otherwise hidden it along the trail, but no part of it was ever recovered,
though frequent searches were made for it. With this money Pbipps
intended to enter a whole section of land. If not the prevailing habit, it
was no unusual thing, at that day, to bury surplus money until needed
for use. There were no banks of deposit nor iron safes then. Residents
in this locality still adhere to the belief that this $500 still lies concealed
somewhere alongside the old Brunswick trail named.
A Case at Law Without a Precedent.
    There was tried in the Clay circuit court, in the month of
October, 1907, a case without a precedent in the courts of the county,
entitled Haltom versus Weber. On the 27th day of January, 1906, Wil-
lard McIntyre shot and killed William Haltom in George Weber’s saloon,
at Bowling Green. The aggrieved widow filed suit against Weber for
damages in the sum of $2,000, alleging defendant’s responsibility for the
loss of her husband’s affections and support, on the ground that he had
sold to McIntyre the intoxicants under the influence of which he had
taken the life of her husband.
    This was the first instance in the history of the county of an injured
citizen’s appealing to the courts for a ruling holding the seller responsible
for crimes and damages perpetrated under the influence of intoxicating
liquors. After deliberating several hours the jury returned a sealed ver-
dict in favor of the defendant. The jury in the case were: James Mc-
Clam, Daniel Clingerman, Wesley Shaw, Perry Zenor, Joseph Crooks,
James F. Modesitt, William H. Downing, Joseph D. Hoch, John W.
Winn, James Ellis, George Leachman, John Murphy.
An Occurrence Peculiar and Pathetic.
    In the latter part of the month of November, 1882, a Vandalia pile-
driver was employed some days by the Terre Haute & Southeastern Com-
pany on construction work, the operating crew making Clay City their
headquarters during the time. The engineer in charge was John Crom-
well, Jr., of Indianapolis, son of John Cromwell, a farmer near Reelsville,
who was a native of Clay county. The son had then been railroading sev-
eral years. The father, becoming solicitous about his welfare, because of
the numerous victims of wrecks and accidents, went to Indianapolis, pur-
posely, on the first day of December, just after the young man’s return
from Clay City to his regular run, to persuade him to give up the hazard-
ous work of railroading and live with him on the farm. At a later hour
in the day, after the father had departed on his return home, the son
was caught in a wreck in the yards at Indianapolis and scalded to death.
Mintage of Spurious Coins.
    William Patton and William Stutzman were contractors on the exca-
vation of the State ditch cut in 1854 for the drainage and reclamation of
swamp lands in Eel river and Big Creek bottoms. Patton established his
headquarters and base of operations on an elevation near the line of the
ditch, about two miles northwest of Middlebury; Stutzman chose to locate
on the uplands about a mile east of the work, on the old Joseph Griffith
place, now a part of the John H. Horton lands, near the Edmonson place.
They paid their emploves and made their purchases, largely, with hard
money, both gold and silver. During the time of their encampment and