Fountain County IN Archives History - Books .....Judges, Circuit Court 1881
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/in/infiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com August 23, 2006, 11:03 pm

Book Title: History Of Fountain County

JUDGES, CIRCUIT COURT.

   The judges who have held the courts in the circuits of which Fountain county
has formed a part, are:

   John R. Porter, from 1826 to 1837;
   Isaac Baylor, from August 1837 to 1852;
   William P. Bryant, from November 1852 to 1858;
   John M. Cowan, from November 1858 to 1870;
   Thomas F. Davidson, from November 1870.

   These are all dead except the last two. A brief mention of these men will not
be out of place, though but little space is allowable for personal mention.

   Judge Porter was a native of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and read law
with Judge Dewey, of the supreme court of Massachusetts. He came to Indiana in
1820, and settled at Paoli, in Orange county. Afterward he moved to Vermilion
county, near Eugene, where some of his family still reside as honored and
respected members of society. He was a lawyer of much ability, and administered
his office with purity and good judgment. He served twelve years, and would have
been continued upon the bench if he had consented.

   The following notice of Judges Bryant and Naylor is taken from the address of
Gen. Wallace at the laying of the corner-stone of the present court-house in
Montgomery county:

   "Isaac Naylor followed Judge Porter. He was a Virginian, born in 1792;
brought to Kentucky, and, when seven or eight years old, to Charleston, Clarke
county, Indiana; read law with Supreme Judge Scott; served as a soldier in 1811;
practiced law in Charleston until the spring of 1833, when he moved to
Crawfordsville; was first a partner of Thomas J. Evans, and then associated
himself much more congenially with Henry S. Lane; was elected circuit judge by
the legislature in 1838; served seven years; was reelected; held second term of
six years; was then elected by the people judge of the court of common pleas,
and continued such for six years. He died, full of honors, in June 1873. He was
thoroughly imbued with the principles of the system of pleading yet found in
Chitty. In the early time his contemporaries called him familiarly 'Old S.
D.'—'Special Demurrer.' "

   "William P. Bryant succeeded Judge Naylor. He was born in Garrard county,
Kentucky; read law with Judge Robinson, chief justice of the court of appeals of
that state; came to Parke county in 1827; served first as prosecuting attorney,
and in 1852 was elected. circuit judge, in which capacity he served a full term
of six years. Off the bench, he was all geniality; on the bench, no Roman
exceeded him in severity or genuine dignity. No one ever questioned his ability.
He died in 1861."

   John M. Cowan came upon the bench in November 1858, with but little
experience in the practice of the law, and at a time when the business of the
courts of the circuit promised a great increase. Judge Cowan was a careful,
painstaking judge in many respects, and when he gave close attention to a cause,
his judgment was usually correct-He was an estimable and exemplary man in his
private life, and was pleasant and agreeable on the bench. He was much
criticised during the latter years of his service for what was called his
partiality to particular attorneys, but it is the writer's belief that if such
partiality existed, it was unconscious, and not from design on the part of the
judge. The only criticism that deserves to be made is, that the judge was
usually unwilling to sit and patiently listen to all the details of a cause when
it was tried by a jury; and this is made in the spirit of kindness, and for the
benefit of the young reader who may hereafter be a judge. Inattentiveness is a
bad quality in a judge. Aside from this, Judge Cowan's administration of the
business of the court was without blemish. He was pure and upright, and did not
consciously do any wrong. He meant to be impartial, and, in the main, was so. He
still lives an, honored-citizen in our sister-county of Montgomery, in the.
enjoyment of family and friends, and enough of this world's goods to make him
comfortable, and free from the cares of poverty.

   Of the present occupant of the office it is becoming only to say that he has
endeavored to do his duty "without fear, favor or affection," and to so conduct
the business of the court that the true object of trials — the ascertainment of
truth — might in all cases be secured; and to the end that justice might "be
administered freely; and without purchase; completely, and without denial;
speedily, and without -delay." How far he has succeeded in this endeavor it is
the prerogative of others to judge.

   The associate judges continued to be a part of the court until 1852, and
those who served in that office were Evan Hinton, Lucas Nebeker, Robert Milford,
John Corse, Benedict Morris, James Orr, and Stephen Reed.

   These are all dead, but they have left memories behind them of which their
children need not be ashamed. Nearly all of them have descendants who are now
honored and useful, and, in some instances, prominent citizens of the county.
Until 1829 the associate judges were ex-officio judges of the probate court, and
the first letters of administration and of guardianship granted in the county
were granted by associate judges Nebeker and Hinton.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF FOUNTAIN COUNTY,

TOGETHER WITH
HISTORIC NOTES ON THE WABASH VALLEY,

GLEANED FROM EARLY AUTHORS, OLD MAPS AND MANUSCRIPTS
PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE, AND OTHER AUTHENTIC, THOUGH, FOR THE MOST
PART, OUT-OF-THE-WAY SOURCES.

BY H. W. BECKWITH,
OF THE DANVILLE BAR; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETIES OF
WISCONSIN AND CHICAGO.

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

CHICAGO: H. H. HILL AND N. IDDINGS, PUBLISHERS.
1881.


File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/in/fountain/history/1881/historyo/judgesci57nms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/infiles/

File size: 6.3 Kb