Sullivan County IN Archives History - Books .....Chapter VII 1884
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Book Title: History Of Greene And Sullivan Counties, Indiana

CHAPTER VII. 

BY SEWELL COULSON, ESQ.

HISTORY OF THE BENCH AND BAR CONTINUED—THE TRUSTEES OF VINCENNES UNIVERSITY VS.
SAMUEL JUDAH—DECISION AND APPEAL—VINCENNES UNIVERSITY—OPINION OF CHANCELLOR
KENT—EJECTMENT CASES—DISPOSAL OF THE PROCEEDS OF THE LAND SALES—END OF
LITIGATION—OTHER TERMS OF COURT—WAR TIME—NUMEROUS INDICTMENTS—PREVALENCE OF
CRIME—JUDGE ECKLES' SUPPER PARTY — THE LLOYD MURDER—THE FALSE IMPRISONMENT
CASES—MURDER OF A STRANGER—MURDER OF A NEGRO—THE COMMON PLEAS COURT
ABOLISHED—THE STATE VS. JOHN A. McKEE—THE SHEPARD-ENGLE MURDER CASE—THE RAILROAD
CASES.

AT the February term, 1859, of the Circuit Court, the case of the Board of
Trustees for the Vincennes University against Samuel Judah came on for trial.
This cause deserves more than a passing notice on account of the interest
involved in the subject matter and amount in controversy, and the eminent
counsel employed on either side of the cause and the extreme bitterness with
which the litigation was carried on. Hon. David McDonald, afterward appointed
United States District Judge for the District of Indiana by President Lincoln,
was a profound lawyer with fine literary acquirements, noted for his accuracy of
judgment, high integrity as a lawyer, and moral and social worth as a citizen;
Usher F. Linder, of Illinois, one of the ablest and most eloquent and successful
advocates that has at any period appeared at the Western bar: Abner T. Ellis,.
of Vincennes, F. L. and W. G. Neff, of Sullivan, were present, and represented
the plaintiff. The plaintiffs had several other able counsel employed who took
part in the cause at some of its stages, but were not present at the trial. The
defendant, a sketch of whose life and eminent learning and ability as a lawyer
will be given, appeared in person and by Hon. John P. Usher, late Secretary of
Interior under Mr. Lincoln, then of Terre Haute and now of Leavenworth, Kan.,
and by Sewell Coulson, of Sullivan. Mr. Usher was a very thorough and
painstaking lawyer, advocate and practitioner. In the management of a cause, he
had no superior. The cause involved some $25,000 or $30,000. Some intricate
questions of pleadings and practice under the code that had never before been
adjudicated were raised in this case and finally settled. The trial commenced
March 4, 1859, and ended on the 9th, resulting in a verdict and judgment in
favor of the plainliff [sic] for $10,435.75.

APPEAL TO THE SUPREME COURT.
   The cause was promptly appealed to the Supreme Court by Mr. Judah, and was
there reversed and remanded to the Circuit Court for a new trial. After the
cause was returned from the Supreme Court, the venue was changed back to the
Knox Circuit Court. The cause was twice in the Supreme Court. On the last trial,
the university obtained a judgment of $500, which Mr. Judah paid.

   At this term of court, John Thaddeus Gunn, who then had been practicing as an
attorney in the courts of Sullivan County for seven years, was naturalized and
admitted to the full rights of citizenship. There is not a resident within the
limits of the district of lands subject to sale at Vincennes but what had an
interest in the subject matter that was in litigation in the suit of the Board
of Trustees for the Vincennes University against Samuel Judah. It is true that
under the management of the Trustees, the benefits had heretofore been almost
exclusively local, and benefited no one outside of the immediate vicinity of
Vincennes. This, however, does not change the beneficent interest of Congress,
nor alter the character of the trust. Indeed had it not been for the
indefatigable labor and most earnest perseverance of the late Samuel Judah, in
the face of the most persistent obstructions both without and within, not a
dollar of this fund would have been preserved to the Vincennes University. The
origin of the cause is best stated by the Supreme Court of the United States, in
the case of "The Board of Trustees for the Vincennes University against the
State of Indiana, as found in 14 Howard, United States S. C. Reports, 268, and
20 of Curtis, Reports, 172, and is here partially followed.

   The Indiana Territory was organized by act of Congress of the 7th of May,
1800, Section 2, Statutes at Large, 58, with powers to legislate given by
ordinance of July 13, 1787, entitled "An ordinance for the Government of the
Territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River. The ordinance
contained the following provision: "The Governor and Judges, or a majority of
them, shall adopt and publish in the district, such laws of the original States,
criminal and civil, as may be necessary and best suited to the circumstances of
the district, and report them to Congress from time to time; which laws shall be
in force in the district until the organization of the annual Assembly therein,
unless disapproved by Congress, but afterward the legislature shall have
authority to alter them as they think fit On the 26th of March, 1804, an act of
Congress was passed for the survey and disposal of public lands; by which these
land districts were established and an entire township in each was reserved for
the use of a seminary of learning to be located by the Secretary of the
Treasury. The boundaries of the Vincennes Land District were the same as
designated in a late treaty with the Wabash Indians. The Secretary of the United
States Treasury, by letter of the 10th of October, 1806, located Township No. 2
south, Range No. 11 west, in Gibson County, for the use of a seminary in that
district.

THE VINCENNES UNIVERSITY.

   The Vincennes University was established by a Territorial act, dated the 29th
of November, 1806, and an act supplemental thereto adopted September 17, 1807,
which incorporated the same by the name of the Board of Trustees for the
Vincennes University. The corporation was duly organized at Vincennes, on the
6th day of December, 1806, under the first-mentioned Territorial act, and has
since continued as such incorporation. The second section of the act of
incorporation, after reciting the seminary lands granted under the act of
Congress referred to, provided "that the Trustees, in their corporate capacity,
or a majority of them, should be legally authorized to sell, transfer, convey
and dispose of any quantity not exceeding 4,000 acres of said land, for the
purpose of putting into immediate use said university; and to have on rent the
remaining part of said township to the best advantage for the use of said public
school or university. The university, by virtue of said act, and the
organization of her Board of Trustees thereunder, and the acceptance of the
proposed Congressional bounty, became possessed of the Gibson County Township of
lands and the title thereto, in fact became vested in the university, or in the
Board of Trustees for the use of the university, and so remained till the
organization of the Indiana Territory as a State in 1816. On the organization of
the State government, the rights and powers of the corporation were expressly
secured by the first section of Article XII, of the constitution then adopted.
Between the date of the organization of the Board of Trustees of the university,
in 1806, and the year of 1820, the Trustees had disposed of 4,000 acres of the
lands in said township, and had leased a part of the residue, and had erected a
college building at Vincennes. In the meantime, some of the members of the Board
of Trustees of the university had died, others had removed to France, so that
there was not a number left sufficient to constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business.

   The State Legislature of 1820 came to the conclusion that this township of
land belonged to the State, and to preserve her rights therein, on the 22d of
January of that year, by joint resolution of the two Houses, appointed a
superintendent to take charge of these lands, and rent the improved portion and
collect the rents, etc. On the 2d of January. 1822, the Legislature, upon the
assumption either that the title was originally vested in the State, or that the
Board of Trustees had expired through their neglect to preserve their corporate
rights, appointed a Commissioner to sell these lands, and pay the money into the
State treasury. The Commissioner thus appointed sold large portions of this
land, and as far as he had made collections, had paid the sums into the State
treasury. Mr. Judah, in the meantime, had given the matter some attention, and
was convinced that the title to the lands, notwithstanding the legislative
action, remained in the university. Mr. Judah was a member of the Legislature of
1838, and was chosen Speaker of the House. During that session, he secured the
passage of an act reviving the incorporation, and supplying the vacancies in the
members of the Board of Trustees; but only upon the condition that the act
should contain a proviso that nothing therein should be construed to in anywise
affect the right of the State in and to the Gibson County Township Seminary
lands. This act was approved February 17, 1838. Shortly after the passage of the
above act, through the efforts of Mr. Judah, the Board of Trustees of the
university was re-organized, perhaps with Mr. Judah a member of that body, and
Secretary of the Board. Mr. Judah at once called the attention of the Board of
Trustees to what he conceived to be its rights in the Seminary Township of land.
The Board of Trustees, it seems, were not fully satisfied with the correctness
of Mr. Judah's opinion as to its legal rights; at all events, they employed a
promising young attorney of Vincennes, by the name of Gibson, to collect all the
legislation, National, Territorial, Constitutional provisions and State
enactments which, with a statement of the facts furnished by Mr. Judah, were
forwarded to Chancellor Kent, of New York, for his opinion thereon. Chancellor
Kent prepared and furnished to the Trustees an opinion in every particular,
except one, coinciding with Mr. Judah.

OPINION OF CHANCELLOR KENT.

   The point of difference was upon the statute of limitations—Chancellor Kent
held that, owing to the unaccountable neglect of the Board of Trustees, their
rights had slept the sleep of death. On this point, Mr. Judah differed from
Kent, and insisted that the statute of limitations did not apply. While that
point was neither raised or decided in the after litigation, yet the opinion of
Kent gave Mr. Judah much trouble, as, through the inexcusable officious conduct
of one of the members of the Board of Trustees, who, without Mr. Judah's
knowledge, and after the cause had been argued and submitted in the United
States Supreme Court, found his way to Washington City, hunted up Judge Taney,
and placed Kent's opinion in his hands, and came near losing the case for his
corporation. It raised a new question in the minds of the Judges that had not
been before investigated. A re-argument of the case was ordered, in which it
appears Mr. Judah was entirely successful in convincing the court that it had no
application to the case; at all events, no mention is made of the point in the
opinion of the court. After the receipt of Chancellor Kent's opinion, the Board
of Trustees had so little faith in its rights to the land, that it refused
absolutely to invest any money whatever in trying the title in the courts. After
much persuasion, the Board of Trustees consented to bring actions of ejectment
against the occupants of these lands, claiming title by purchase from the State
of Indiana, but, as part of the contract, it was expressly stipulated that in no
case was the Board of Trustees to be held liable for costs, and in case the
board was defeated in the suits, Mr. Judah was liable to pay all costs and
receive no compensation for his labor and expenses. In the event that the
university was successful, Mr. Judah was to receive a fee of $5,000.

EJECTMENT SUITS.

   Mr. Judah, under this agreement, in 1845 instituted sixty-odd ejectment suits
in the Gibson Circuit Court, to recover of the Seminary lands sold by the State,
but the excitement and opposition was so intense that Mr. Judah did not deem it
safe to attend the courts in Gibson County to try the causes, and the Presiding
Judge, Embry, who was a purchaser of a part of this land himself, refused to
grant a change in the venue in the causes. Matters remained in this condition
till the meeting of the Legislature of 1845-46, when a law was passed
authorizing the State to be substituted in the place of the defendants to the
actrons of ejectment then still pending in the Gibson Circuit Court. This act
provided that a bill in chancery in the nature of an action of decision might be
filed by the Trustees for the university against the State, in the Circuit of
Marion County, setting up the facts, which should take the place of the pending
suits in Gibson County Circuit Court. Accordingly, Mr. Judah, as the attorney
for the Board of Trustees, prepared and filed the bill in Chancery in the Marion
County Circuit Court, and from that time forward the State became the defendant.
The cause was tried in the Circuit Court, and resulted in a finding and judgment
in favor of the plaintiff. The State appealed from this judgment of the Circuit
Court to the Supreme Court, where the judgment of the Circuit Court was
reversed. Mr. Judah took an appeal from the decision of the Supreme Court of the
State to the Supreme Court of the United States, where the judgment reversing
the judgment of the Marion County Circuit Court was itself reversed, and the
decision of the Marion County Circuit Court was approved, and the cause was
remanded to the Supreme Court of Indiana, with directions to affirm the judgment
of the Circuit Court, all of which was done.

   The Legislature of the State had, by sundry laws, appropriated all the moneys
collected into the treasury arising from the sale of the seminary lands in
Gibson County to an endowment fund of the State University at Bloomington. The
amount, with the interest, found due the Board of Trustees for the Vincennes
University and final settlement of the decree was in the neighborhood of
$66,000, but before it was finally paid amounted to about $72,000. Various
mandamus suits were brought in the Circuit Court of Marion County against the
State officers, to compel them to pay over the money, and while the same were
pending a proposition for a compromise was advanced. By this arrangement, the
State was to assume the debt, issue her bonds due in thirty years, bearing seven
per cent annual interest, payable at the office of the Treasurer of the State
for the amount, and the State University was to retain the money already
received from the sale of these lands. The two universities were anxious that
this arrangement should be consummated, especially the Vincennes, whose Board of
Trustees appointed a committee, consisting of Mr. Judah, A. T. Ellis and Mr.
Bishop, to labor with the Legislature to secure the passage of a bill to that
effect, and directed them, or, in the absence of Ellis amd [sic] Bishop,
directed Mr. Judah to spend of their portion of the money such amounts as might
be deemed necessary to secure the passage of the bill. A majority of the
Legislature did not look upon the measure with favor. It required a great deal
of lobby work and log-rolling to get it through; it, however, finally passed,
and the bill became a law. Under this law, the State issued her bonds, a part of
which were received by Mr. Judah, which he claimed to hold for his fees and
expenditures in getting the bill passed providing for the settlement. This suit
of the Trustees for the Vincennes University against Samuel Judah was to recover
these bonds or their value.

OTHER TERMS OF SULLIVAN CIRCUIT COURT.

   The February term, 1860, of the Circuit Court passed off without any notable
cause coming on for trial. John Mastin was admitted to practice as an attorney.
Between the close of the August term, 1859, and the February term, 1860, the
term of office of Joseph W. Wolfe, as Clerk of the Circuit Court and ex officio
Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, expired, and James "W. Hinkle, the Clerk
elect, took possession of the office, and appointed Daniel Langdon his Deputy.
Mr. Wolfe had filled the office for two terms of four years each, discharging
the duties of his office faithfully and acceptably to the people having business
in the courts of the county. After his retirement from office, Mr. Wolfe
commenced the practice of the law, confining his business to probate matters. It
is worthy of note that during Mr. Wolfe's official, as well also as while
engaged in the practice of law, he also exercised the functions of a minister of
the Gospel in the Christian Church, of which society he was and still is a
devoted and exemplary member. Some of Mr. Wolfe's sermons are said to have been
replete with learning, and delivered with great force and emphasis, and were
frequently delivered with flights of the most sublime eloquence. His speaking
was principally extemporaneous. He is still living in Sullivan, a venerable old
gentlemen, a type of the men three generations back, full of honors and a
conscience void of offense toward God and man. He was admitted to practice as an
attorney at the August term, 1860, of the Circuit Court. John E. Risley was
admitted at the same term. Hon. M. F. Burk was at this term appointed to hold an
adjourned term of the Circuit Court, commencing November 7. Mr. Burk was an
Irish lawyer of fine culture and high standing in the legal profession, both on
account of his learning and courteous deportment toward the members of the bar.
He resided in Washington, Daviess County. It is said he was a blood relation to
Edmund Burke, the eminent Irish advocate. But little business was transacted
either at the regular August or adjourned terms. The political campaign of that
year, with accompanying excitement, crushed out the law business almost
entirely. Capt. Joseph W. Briggs, the oldest resident member of the Sullivan
bar, died very suddenly on the — day of January, 1861. He had been for so long a
time and so intimately connected with the courts of the county, and so wide and
favorably known that a sketch of his life and family connection would seem to be
altogether appropriate.

   A large amount of business was transacted at the February term of court, but
all of a commonplace character. On the 24th of February, during the sitting of
the Circuit Court, Israel W. Booth, a resident member of the Sullivan bar, died.
A meeting of the members of the bar was convened, over which John T. Gunn
presided. Appropriate resolutions were adopted, and ordered to be reported to
the court and recorded in the order book, but owing to the inexcusable neglect
of the Secretary of the meeting, a copy of the resolutions were never furnished
to the Clerk, and consequently do not appear of record. (See note made by Mr.
Hinkle, Clerk, in Order Book B, p. 688.) Mr. Booth was a native of Ohio, where
he had an excellent family connection.

COURTS DURING THE WAR.

   The August term, 1861, of the Circuit Court developed no litigation outside
of the ordinary routine of business. Stephen G. Burton was admitted to practice
as an attorney at law, he having located in Sullivan with a view of making that
place his permanent home. Mr. Burton, shortly after his location in Sullivan,
engaged in the business of selling drugs. He was elected to represent the county
in the Legislature of 1862-63; was once a candidate before the Democratic
primary election for Auditor, and defeated by Murray Briggs. Mr. Burton was a
graduate of the State University of Bloomington, both in the classical and law
departments, and was a good scholar and plausible stump speaker.

   The war had called to the field many of the parties to suits pending, and
many witnesses whose testimony was relied upon, and without whose presence
causes could not be tried, and in addition, men's minds were steadfastly fixed
upon the national flag every moment, praying for its safety, so that all
interests in courts and law suits were buried beneath the one great anxiety. The
business transacted in the Circuit Court after the year 1862 up to 1864, was of
such commonplace character that it cannot be of interests to any one further
than the terms of court were regularly held, and the routine business disposed
of. At the February term, 1862, John M. Humphreys was admitted to practice as an
attorney at law. At the August term of the same year, James M. Hurst was
admitted to practice as attorney at law. Mr. Hurst then resided in Fairbanks
Township. He afterward removed to Vigo County, and was elected District Attorney
on the Democratic ticket for the Common Pleas District, composed of the counties
of Sullivan, Vigo and Parke. Samuel R. Cavins, a sketch of whose life will be
found in the history of Greene County, and Peter Y. Buskirk were admitted to
practice as attorneys at law at the February term, 1868. Mr. Buff, for several
years previous to his admission to the bar, had been connected with the Union
Christian College of Merom, Ind. He came to the bar with a pretty thorough
knowledge of the elementary principles of the law. The foundation of his legal
knowledge was deeply and well laid, and by assiduous study, connected with an
extensive practice, he has become an excellent lawyer. Mr. Buff, in addition to
his legal acquirements, was a great lover of literature, and by his studious
habits and constant reading acquired a general knowledge that for variety and
accuracy is excelled by few. He is a fine conversationalist, kind, social and
gentlemanly in his deportment, both in court and society. At the same time, G.
W. Willis was also admitted to practice as an attorney at law. At the February
term 1864, Hon. Benjamin F. Havens was admitted to practice as an attorney at
law. Mr. Havens thus resided in Sullivan, but since that time he removed to
Terre Haute, where he has been honored by his party, by an election to the
Legislature, and also as Mayor of the city of Terre Haute. No causes of
importance appeared in the docket of the August term, 1864.

GREAT NUMBER OF INDICTMENTS.

   At the February term, 1865, the grand jury returned fifty-eight indictments
against John Ellis, Elias Walls, Francis M. Walters, Nathaniel Buchman, Martin
Smith, James Hughes, Benjamin F. Walls, Harlam Walters, John Tohn alias
Burnsides, James Sales alias James Greene, George Walters, Nimrod Walls, Stephen
Lovelace, William V. Storm alias Vaughe, John Sutton, George Walters, James
Niman, Andrew J. Tolan alias Burnsides and David P. Cummins. The parties had all
been arrested before the return of the indictments. George Walters, John Ellis,
David P. Cummins, Elias Walls and Nimrod Walls gave bond for their appearance in
court; the remainder were committed to jail. A special guard was employed to
guard the jail; the prisoners, nevertheless, cut their way out through the jail
floor and made their escape in the night. Not one of the latter number ever was
retaken. Those of the defendants who were under recognizance applied for, and
was granted a change of venue, at the August term, 1865, and the causes were
sent to the Greene Circuit Court, One of the defendants had a separate trial in
that court, and was convicted, but he obtained a new trial. Nothing further ever
came of the cases. At the time the arrests were made, the public feeling against
the prisoners was very bitter and the excitement was very great. The persons
arrested and indicted, it was alleged, had banded themselves together for the
purpose of raiding and stealing.

PREVALENCE OF CRIME.

   A vast number of houses and stores had been broken and entered in the night
time and the inmates compelled to give up what money there was in their
possession; men were also stopped in public highways and forced to give up their
money; houses, barns, grain and hay stacks were burned; the depot of the
Evansville & Terre Haute Railroad at Sullivan was broken into and a large amount
of goods were stolen therefrom, an express train on the same railroad was
derailed between Sullivan and Paxton, and the express box stolen. Crimes of the
character of these had become so frequent and daring that the people became
alarmed. A detective was set to work, who soon got the whole secret and in due
time the arrests were made. The Board of County Commissioners, at their March
term, 1865, made a contract with Hon. William Mack, by which they agreed to pay
him $1,000 for prosecuting said criminals. The contract was general in its terms
and purported to require Mr. Mack to prosecute all criminals in the county, but
it was certainly understood that the crimes spoken of gave rise to aid was the
cause of his employment. It is not certain, and probably may well be doubted
that the same band of men that committed the burglaries and larcenies committed
the arson.

TERMS AFTER THE WAR.

   The February term, 1866, of the Circuit Court Convened February 21, with D.
R. Eckles Presiding Judge; Michael Malott, Prosecuting Attorney; Edward Price,
Clerk; and Alexander Snow, Sheriff. Solon Turman, James A. Scott and James I.
Smiley, all of the Greencastle bar, were admitted to practice as attorneys. On
the evening of the 21st, Judge Eckles gave a bar supper at a restaurant kept by
Mr. Orson Moor, at which a great variety of wild game was served.

JUDGE ECKLES' SUPPER PARTY.

   The bill of fare included, among other wild game, venison, bear meat, rabbit,
squirrel, opossum, etc.; and of the fowl, wild turkey, grouse, pheasant, quail
and snipe. Those who attended the supper had lots of fun that night, but those
who did not attend it had lots of fun the next day. One dignified limb of the
law supposed he was stowing away a slice of nice cake in his stove-pipe hat, but
in place thereof it proved to be a two-pound roll of butter. The room was warm,
the butter melted, the gentleman discovered that he was perspiring wonderfully,
and the more he plied his handkerchief, the more freely he perspired, till his
entire suit of broadcloth was thoroughly saturated with butter. He was a
Southern gentleman, had been born, raised and educated on the sunny shores of
the Southern Pacific, where opossum is the standard of excellence among all wild
game. While the butter in his stove-pipe hat was gradually melting and finding
its way down the back of his head and neck and lubricating his spinal column,
filling his eyes and ears and anointing his fine beard; and while with a large
bandana, which he held in his left hand, and with desperate effort attempted to
dry up the moisture that seemed to issue from every pore in his head. In his
right hand he held the carcass of a full-grown opossum, well roasted, to which
ever and anon he applied his incisors. The oil running down on the outside and
the opossum on the inside, he presented a spectacle that would have charmed the
pencil of even the dullest artist. It was the mixture of the great varieties of
wild meats that caused all this. It confused many of those who partook of the
bountiful repast.

THE MURDER OF LLOYD.

   At this term of the Circuit Court, the case of the State of Indiana against
William Casaday, wherein the defendant was charged with the murder of John
Lloyd, was tried. The State was represented by Michael Malott, the Prosecuting
Attorney, and Sewell Coulson, and the defendant by Hon. James M. Hanna and
Samuel R. Hamill. The defendant's counsel were very apprehensive of the result
of this trial. Judge Hanna, especially, felt that it required every exertion
that could be put forth by them to save their client from the death penalty. It
gave him great anxiety. Every thought for weeks, both day and night, was how to
save this man's life. The first perceptible indication of the insidious disease
that finally terminated Judge Hanna's life made its appearance during and about
the close of this trial. He was the first to notice it, and up to his death it
is said attributed his ailment to an over-taxation of his mind in that case. He
believed his client was insane, and defended him upon that theory. The jury,
however, thought different, and found him guilty of murder in the first degree,
and that he be imprisoned in the State Prison during life. Judge Hanna, it is
believed, accomplished all in the case he expected.

THE FALSE IMPRISONMENT CASES.

   A number of causes worthy of a place in the judicial history of the county,
for the first time appeared upon the Circuit Court docket at this term. These
cases grew out of matters that transpired during the * war, and are so
intimately connected therewith, that an account thereof «is not only a part of
the judicial, but general, history of the county, an omission of which would be
like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left out. The cases referred to are those of
Andrew Humphreys against Samuel McCormick et al.; William Holdson against Samuel
McCormick et al.; Thomas Mayfield against Samuel McCormick et al.; James Leach
against Samuel McCormick et al.; John Sisson against Samuel McCormick et al.,
and the State of Indiana against Samuel McCormick et al. That the reader may
more fully understand the character of these causes, it is necessary to
reproduce a statement of the facts constituting the injuries complained of, and
the manner in which the defendants, McCormick and his associates, became
involved in the same. The February term, 1864, of the Circuit Court was held
partly by Hon. C. Y. Patterson, Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and partly
by Michael Malott, Judge Claypool, on account of sickness in his family, being
unable to attend. The August term was held by Judge Claypool. This was the last
court held by him in Sullivan County, his term of office expiring with the
coming October election. Hon. D. R. Eckles was elected Judge of the Sixth
Judicial Circuit at the October election in 1864. Contrary to the usual custom
in such cases, Judge Eckles never caused his commission to be placed of record
upon the order book of the court. No business of importance was transacted
either at the February or August terms, 1864. The February term, 1865, was held
by Judge Eckles With this term, also, came in a new Clerk—Edwin Price—and
Alexander Snow, as Sheriff. No causes involving general interest or worth, of
historical mention, were disposed of at this term. The same may also be said of
the August term of that year. Samuel McCormick was Captain of a company of State
militia, regularly mustered, and constituted a part of the State Legion in
Sullivan County. James Hughes was a Major General in the Legion and in command
of all the southern part of the State. Alven P. Hovey was a Brigadier General in
the United States Volunteer Army, and as such was, by the direction of the
President of the United States, in command of all the United States forces
within the State of Indiana. On the 5th of October, 1864, General Hovey issued a
military order, from which the following is an extract:

                            "HEADQUARTERS, DISTRICT OF INDIANA, )
                              " INDIANAPOLIS, October 5, 1864.  )
"Special Order, No. 142—-Extract:

       *             *            *            *
      "10. Capt. John W. Bay, First Heavy Artillery Indiana Volunteers, with the
force turned over to him for that purpose by Maj. Gen. James Hughes, will arrest
Andrew Humphreys and bring him to this city without delay. A special train and
guard will be at the depot at Sullivan, Sullivan County at twelve (12) o'clock
M., seventh (7) of October instant, to bring the prisoner to this city. The
officer in charge of this train and guard will be directed to report to Capt.
Day at the time and place named.
*      *      *      *      *      *      *      *
                    "By order of BREVET MAJ. GEN. ALVTN P. HOVEY,
                         "AND. C. KEMPER Assistant Adjutant General. 
"CAPT. JOHN W. DAY, First Heavy Artillery Indiana Volunteers."

   On the 6th of the same month, Maj. Gen. James Hughes issued the following
special order:

                      "HEADQUARTERS SECOND DIVISION INDIANA LEGION, )
                                             " October 6, 1864.     )
"Special Order, No. 29.
   "Lieut. [Captain] Samuel McCormick will report forthwith to Capt. John W.
Bay, First Heavy Artillery Indiana Volunteers, with twenty picked men of his
command, well mounted for special duty.
                       " JAMES HUGHES, Major General Indiana Legion."

THE ARREST OF ANDREW HUMPHREYS.

   Capt. Day, with the forces under command of Capt. McCormick, on the 6th day
of October, 1864, proceeded to Linton, Greene County, where they arrested Andrew
Humphreys, and conveyed him to Sullivan, where a special train was in waiting,
which conveyed him to Indianapolis. He was, in company with William A. Bowles,
Lambdon P. Milligan, Stephen Horsey and Horace Hefron, tried before a military
commission, on sundry charges of disloyal and treasonable practices, and found
guilty. Afterward the whole matter came before the Supreme Court of the United
States in exparte, the United States ex rel. Lambdon P. Milligan, on habeas
corpus, in which it was held that the commission was convened without authority
of law. That inasmuch as there was no war in the State of Indiana, and the civil
authorities were in the full and uninterrupted license of their functions, and
the courts of both the State and United States were open, in full operation, and
possessing competent authority to prosecute and punish all violation of the
laws, it was illegal and unwarranted by the constitution to try civilians by a
Military Court within the State of Indiana, and that the trial and conviction
was therefore void. This decision liberated said parties. Humphreys immediately
commenced a civil action against Capt. McCormick and others who composed the
force turned to Capt. John W. Day, by Maj. Gen. James Hughes, by his order of
October 6, claiming $50,000 damages for his said arrest and imprisonment. He was
represented by Hon. James M Hanna, D. W. Voorhees, Samuel R. Hamill, William
Mack, Calvin Taylor, Michael Malott and others, his attorneys. The defendant was
represented by Col. R. W. Thompson, who appeared on two occasions at this term
and then abandoned the cases, and by Sewell Coulson. On their first appearance,
the defendants filed their petition and motion to remove the cause into the
United States Circuit Court, within and for the district of Indiana, and
tendered the statutory bond. Judge Eckles overruled the petition and motion, and
the cause was continued to the next term. On the 10th of February, 1865, Col. R.
W. Thompson, then Provost Marshal for the Seventh Congressional District, issued
the following order:

      "PROVOST MARSHAL'S OFFICE, TERRE HAUTE, February 10, 1865.
   "If any quanity of arms or ammunition shall be found concealed in the county
of Sullivan. Capt. McCormick will please seize the same wherever found, and
report it to me. He will of course employ the necessary force to make the
seizure, taking care not to trespass [on] any rights of persons or private
property. Let the seizure be only of such as may be found concealed in unusual
quantities.
                           "R, W. THOMPSON,
       "Captain and Provost Marshal, Seventh District, Indiana."

   A detachment from the invalid corps, numbering about 400, under the command
of Capt. O'Neal, arrived in Sullivan in December, 1864, and remained some two or
three months. On the first arrival of the soldiers, there were four companies of
the invalid corps and about the same number belonging to the State Legion. Among
the latter was Capt. McCormick's company. Capt. Ostril directed Capt. McCormick
to bring William Holdson and James Leach to his headquarters, for the purpose of
obtaining information from them about some matters he was required to
investigate; this Capt. McCormick did. The defendants in each cause filed their
petition and motion, and tendered their bond to remove the causes to the United
States Circuit Court, for the district of Indiana, and each of which was
overruled by the court. The causes were all continued till the August term.

THE MURDER OF A STRANGER.

   At this same term of the Circuit Court, the grand jury returned an indictment
against Hay don Cuppy, William W. Rogers and James T. Allen, charging them with
the murder of a stranger, by hanging him by the neck. The circumstances of the
case were substantially these: Shortly previous to the sitting of the grand
jury, two strange men, claiming to be from Louisville, Ky., got off the cars at
the town of Shelburn, and started to the country for the ostensible purpose of
looking at some land one of them claimed to own, and proposed to sell to the
other. They had not been long gone when one of them returned. Some time during
the day, a lady and some children were attracted into a thick wood by the moans
of a person, where they found the other stranger apparently in a dying
condition. He had been beaten over the head with a club in a terrible manner,
and had also been stabbed a number of times. He was entirely insensible, and no
hopes of his recovery were entertained. He had been robbed of all his money and
other valuables carried upon his person. The news of the supposed murder and
robbery spread rapidly, and soon there were several hundred people on the
ground. The man that had returned to Shelburn was recognized as the person that
had got off the train in company with the murdered man. He was promptly
arrested, and admitted his crime. He was taken to the woods east of Shelburn,
and, in presence of a crowd of from five to seven hundred people, was hanged.
The cause was not tried till the February term, 1867, and the defendants were
admitted to bail in the sum of $5,000 each.

THE PAYNE MURDER CASE.

   The August term, 1866, commenced August 20. At this term of the Circuit
Court, the case of the State of Indiana against Frank Payne, on charge of
murder, brought to the Sullivan Circuit Court on change of venue from the Vigo
Circuit Court. It was claimed that Payne, without any provocation, except that
the murdered man was a negro, shot and killed him in the field while plowing.
The State was represented by Col. John P. Beard, and the defendant by Hon. D. W.
Voorhees and William Mack. During the progress of the trial, through some remark
made by Mr. Mack, Mr. Voorhees and Mr. Beard got into a fight, but were
separated by Hon. Joseph E. McDonald, who was present. Judge Eckles to vindicate
the dignity of the court, fined Mack, Voorhees and Beard each $25. The defendant
was acquitted.

THE FALSE IMPRISONMENT CASES CONTINUED.

   The cases of Humphreys v. McCormick et al., and Mayfield v. Mc-Cormick et
al., were tried, the first by a jury, which resulted in a judgment for the
plaintiff in the sum of $25,000; the latter was tried by the court, and resulted
in a finding and  judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of $500, both of which
were appealed to the Supreme Court, and the judgments were reversed, and the
causes remanded, with directions to certify the same to the United States
Circuit Court, which was afterward done. They remained in the United States
Circuit Court for some time, and finally, in 1868, were dismissed for want of
prosecution. A nolle prosequi was, by the direction of the court, entered in the
case of the State vs. McCormick et al. The cases of Holdson vs. McCormick et
al., Leach vs. McCormick et al., and Lipon vs. McCormick et al., were sent to
the Knox Circuit Court, on change of the venue granted upon the application of
the defendants. They were afterward certified to the United States Circuit
Court, and finally dismissed for a failure on the part of the plaintiffs to
plead under the rules of the court. William H. De Wolfe, of the Vincennes bar,
and Nathan D. Miles were admitted to practice as attorneys at law. Mr. Miles
continued to reside and practice his profession in Sullivan for several years.
He was, while a resident of Sullivan, elected to the House of Representatives,
where he served with credit to himself and constituents. He afterward moved to
Kentucky, and is now engaged in the practice of the law in Lexington and his own
county.

   The February term 1867, of the Circuit Court, which convened on the 18th day
of February, was held by Sewell Coulson as Judge pro tempore. Jacob S. Brodwell,
who had been elected at the preceding October election, was Prosecuting
Attorney. The case of the State of Indiana against Haydon Cuppy, William W.
Rogers and James T. Allen was tried by a jury and the defendants were acquitted.
Although it was claimed that over five hundred persons were present and
witnessed the transaction, no witness was produced, although many were examined
and testified that they were present and witnessed the hanging as previously
stated, who were able to state who the parties were that hung the man. The
excitement and confusion seemed to have been so great that no one knew how or by
whom the hanging was done.

   The Legislature, during its session of 1867, created the Eighteenth Judicial
Circuit, composed of the counties of Vigo, Parke, Vermillion and Sullivan. On
the 1st day of March, 1867, Gov. Baker appointed Col. R. W. Thompson Judge, and
on the 18th of March, he appointed Sewell Coulson Prosecuting Attorney for the
new circuit. The first term of court held in the new circuit for Sullivan
County, convened September 9, 1867. No causes of importance was tried. At the
March term, 1868, Chambers Y. Patterson, who had been elected Judge of the
Eighteenth Judicial Circuit, at the regular State and county election in
October, 1867, presented his commission bearing date November 4, 1867.
Commissioning him as Judge of the circuit for six years. Burton G. Hanna was
elected Prosecuting Attorney at the same election for two years. No important
business was transacted during this term. So far as business is concerned, the
same may be said of the September term, 1868; March term, 1869; September term,
1869: March term, 1870, and September term, 1870. Michael Malott, a resident
member of the bar in Sullivan, died January 25, 1869. The members of the bar
held a meeting and prepared and adopted appropriate resolutions, which by order
of the Judges both of the Circuit and Common Pleas Courts, were directed to be
spread of record. There was a record of what were resolutions of a committee of
the members of the Sullivan bar, but there is nothing to show that they were
ever presented to the bar; on the contrary from their reading it would seem they
were not. The resolutions reported to and adapted by the bar, were creditable
alike to the memory of the deceased and the brethren of the bar that adopted
them. They are not at hand, however, to be inserted in this sketch. Michael
Malott was born in Lawrence County, Ind., February 24, 1826, and removed with
his family to Sullivan County about the year 1834. The date of his admission to
the bar, has been heretofore noticed. He was commissioned Prosecuting Attorney
of the Common Pleas Court November 10, 1856; Notary Public September 10, 1859;
Justice of the Peace November 1, 1860; Notary Public February 14, 1867. He also
served one term as Prosecuting Attorney for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which
has heretofore been fully spoken of.

   At the March term, 1870, M. C. Mills, of Merom, and James F. Allen were
admitted to practice as attorneys at law. The March term, 1871, of the Circuit
Court, convened March 13. John C. Briggs was elected Prosecuting Attorney for
the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit at the October election, 1870. His commission
was dated October 24, and was sworn in on the 1st of November, 1870. W. M.
Martyn was admitted to practice as an attorney at law March 24, 1871. Mr. Martyn
then resided at Carlisle, where he continued to practice law until about the
year 1882, when he removed to the city of Evansville, where he still resides.
The September term was held, commencing September 11, during the two weeks
allowed by law. The court was unable to clear the docket of the causes which,
for several terms, had been accumulating on it in the allotted time, for the
purpose of cleaning up the arrears and an adjourned term was called for October
31. The business of the court was not of a character to involve or excite any
public interest. The March term, 1872, convened March 11. Jesse Bicknell, who
was elected at the October election, 1871, took possession of the Clerk's office
on March 5, 1872, and served in that capacity for eight years, being elected his
own successor in 1875. Mr. Bicknell was a faithful and honest official. He was
kind, courteous and obliging in his office, and had the respect and friendship
of every attorney having business with him. The continued close confinement to
his office greatly impaired his health and ultimately caused his death. Robert
B. Sears, of Newport, Vermillion County, was elected Prosecuting Attorney for
the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit at the October election 1871, and served for two
years from October 24. Mr. Sears appointed John R. Highfil, a brilliant young
attorney of Sullivan, his Deputy. Mr. Highfil's health was very poor, being
afflicted with pulmonary disease. He was induced to go to Colorado with a hope
that his health would be restored, but instead thereof he soon died.

THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS ABOLISHED.

   The Legislature, during its session of 1874, abolished the court of Common
Pleas, transferred the business thereof to the Circuit Courts of the respective
counties, redivided the State into circuits and providing for four terms each
year of the Circuit Court in place of two. Under the new arrangement, Vigo and
Sullivan Counties constituted the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit, with C. Y.
Patterson, Judge. Samuel R. Hamill was appointed Prosecuting Attorney for the
new circuit. A thorough examination of the records of the Circuit Court fails to
disclose any business of historic interest from the September term, 1872, to the
January term, 1874. C. Y. Patterson was re-elected Judge at the October election
in 1873, notwithstanding he had a very considerable opposition. His commission
was dated October 26, 1873. On the 15th day of December, 1873, Ferdinand Basler,
a resident member of the Sullivan bar died, and on the 18th of the same month a
meeting of the members of the bar was held at the office of N. G. Buff, Esq., at
which the follow-preamble and resolutions were adopted:

   "At a meeting of the bar of Sullivan held at the office of N. G. Buff, Esq..
on Thursday, the 18th of December, 1873, Joseph W. Wolfe, being the Chairman
thereof, the following proceedings were had respecting the death of Ferdinand
Basler, Esq., who departed this life on the 15th of December, 1873.

   "Resolved, That Sewell Coulson, Samuel R. Hamill and John T. Gunn be and they
are hereby appointed a committee with John T. Gunn, Chairman thereof, to draft
resolutions expressing the sense of this meeting.

   "On motion, the following resolutions reported by the same committee were
adopted:

    " WHEREAS, It has pleased Almighty God in the wise dispensation of His
providence to take from among us our friend and professional brother, Ferdinand
Basler, who died on the 15th day of December, 1873, in the meridian of his
usefulness in public and private life.

    "Resolved, that we sincerely deplore the early death of our friend who by
his public services and private virtues had won the gratitude of his fellow
citizens and the esteem of his numerous friends.

    "Resolved, That in the death of Ferdinand Basler our profession and the
community have lost a worthy and most useful member.

   "Resolved, that the bar of Sullivan offers to the bereaved family of the
deceased, our warmest and most heartfelt sympathy.

   "Resolved, That the bar attend in a body the funeral of the deceased.

   "Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be published in the Sullivan
papers, and that a copy also be sent to the family of the deceased."

                                "JOHN T. GUNN, Chairman Committee."

    "Resolved, That Sewell Coulson, Esq., Calvin Taylor, Esq., and N. G. Buff,
Esq., with Calvin Taylor as Chairman, form a committee to present the foregoing
resolutions to the Sullivan Circuit Court at its January term, 1874, and ask
that the same be spread of record in said court.

                                   " JOHN T. GUNN, Secretary."

   The Circuit Court convened January 13, 1874, with a large docket, but the
causes were of ordinary, commonplace character. From and including the March
term of the Circuit Court, 1874, to and including the adjourned June term, held
on the 12th day of July, 1876; no important business came before the court.
Jesse Bicknell was elected Clerk of the Sullivan Circuit Court, and John E.
Lamb, Prosecuting Attorney for the Fourteenth Judicial Cirouit, at the regular
State and county election in the fall of 1874. Mr. Lamb took possession of his
office immediately. Mr. Bicknell's first appearance in court as Clerk was at the
January term, 1875. The grand jury which was re-convened at the adjourned June
term, on the 13th day of July, 1876, returned an indictment against John A.
McKee for murder, of the trial and final disposition of which more will
hereafter be said. At the October term, 1876, a new indictment was returned
against McKee, and he was again admitted to bail in the sum of $7,500. Nothing
worthy of note transpired in court during either the January or April or June
terms, 1877. At the October term, William A. Massie was admitted to practice as
an attorney at law. The journal entry of his admission reads as follows: u On
motion of John N. Humphreys, Esq., and after being duly sworn, William A. Massie
set up the cigars." The case of the State of Indiana against McKee, by agreement
of parties, was set for trial on December 18, 1877, to which time the court
adjourned.

THE STATE OF INDIANA VS. JOHN A. M'KEE.
   The case of the State of Indiana against John A. McKee, which came on for
trial at the adjourned October term, that convened December 18, 1877, was
probably one of the most remarkable criminal trials, and most hotly contested
one ever tried in the county. The indictment charged that the defendant McKee,
on the 1st day of June, 1876, feloniously and with premeditated malice, murdered
one Mary Jane De Hart, by hanging her. Mr. McKee, was a well-to-do and reputable
farmer, who lived two and a half miles from Sullivan, on the road leading from
Sullivan to Terre Haute. He had a family consisting of a wife and a number of
children, mostly grown. He was regarded as a man of considerable wealth and a
good citizen. The woman alleged to have been murdered lived with a brother, a
young, single man, in a small, one-story frame house, with two rooms in the main
building, a back shed kitchen at the northwest comer, with one window in front
in each room, one window in the kitchen and one door in the front opening toward
the street, and one door opening out into the back yard. The partition dividing
the main building into two rooms was made of rough, undressed oak plank, and the
door shutter between the rooms was of the same material. The house fronted east
on Jackson street, in the southeast part of the town of Sullivan. Miss De Hart,
for many years, had borne an exceedingly bad reputation for virtue. She had made
repeated attempts, by threats of exposure and otherwise, to blackmail reputable
citizens, in some of which she had been successful. She had, for some time, with
the assistance of paramour, named Thomas Daugherty, been endeavoring to extort
money from McKee, by writing, and procuring Daugherty to write letters to McKee,
demanding money from him under threats of preferring a false charge of bastardy
against him, some of which were dropped in the Post Office at Sullivan; one was
delivered to him by his brother, one by Capt. Storey, and others were dropped
about his premises. On the morning of June 1, 1876, between 7 and 8 o'clock, she
was found dead, suspended to the partition door, with a piece of cotton clothes
line rope around her neck and over the top of the door. McKee, at the time of
this occurrence, had carpenters at work repairing his dwelling-house. The
workmen, while removing the old roof, had thrown a piece of timber on the
clothes line, which caused McKee to take it down and place it in his smoke
house. A Coroner's inquest was held over the dead body of Miss De Hart, during
the progress of which Daugherty made the charge that McKee had murdered her. No
rope resembling the piece with which she had been hung, and which was about
eight feet in length, could be found about the De Hart premises, nor anywhere in
the vicinity of them. Parties, on going to McKee's house, and getting the
clothes line, found, on a comparison, as they supposed, that the two exactly
corresponded. On getting McKee's daughter to stretch the line in the usual
place, it was discovered that the line had been cut, and was about eight feet
short, and that by adding the piece, found around Miss De Hart's neck, it was
the proper length.

   McKee, early in the morning of the 1st of June, went to Shelburn, and from
Shelburn to Sullivan, and from Sullivan home, where he arrived between 8 and 9
o'clock A. M. On the trial, all the forgoing facts were shown; and in addition
thereto, two witnesses testified to seeing McKee go into the De Hart house
shortly after 7 o'clock that morning, and a third one testified to seeing him
going away from, in that direction. On the other hand, it was shown that there
were no marks of violence on about the person of the deceased; that when she was
found by her brother the front windows were all nailed down on the inside, the
back window in the kitchen was closed up with boards nailed over it on the
inside. The front door was locked on the inside, and the key in the lock. The
back door was fastened on the inside with a stick of stove-wood, the end of
which, one on side was cut off wedge shape, and placed under the door near the
center, in a way that it was impossible to have been done by a person from the
outside. The door was closed so close that a man could not put his hand in. It
was also shown that Daugherty and the deceased were out in the woods till
between 11 and 12  o'clock the night before, and then returned to the house and
slept together till morning. It was also shown by witnesses that Daugherty left
the house but a short time before the deceased was found. The shortage in
McKee's clothes line was accounted for in a way entirely consistant with McKee's
innocence. Medical experts gave it as their opinion that it was a case of
suicide. Mr. Briggs argument was undoubtedly the most forcible and effective
one, made on either side of the case, although Mr. Lamb, in the closing
argument, caused the knees of the weaker friends of McKee to tremble. Mr. Briggs
spoke two hours and a half, in which he reviewed the evidence in a masterly way.
   His manner, language, delivery, in short his entire speech was all that the
finest forensic critic could desire. For logical reasoning, and plain natural
elocution, it has never been surpassed by any one in the Sullivan Court House.
It was the ablest effort of Mr. Briggs' life, and an argument of which he or any
attorney might well feel proud.

   McKee was examined as a witness on his own behalf, and admitted being in
Sullivan that morning, but denied being at the De Hart house, denied all
complicity in the homicide, but admitted the frequent attempts made by deceased
and Daugherty to blackmail him; also the receipt of letters written by her,
demanding money, under a threat to prefer a charge of bastardy against him. It
was also shown by the physician that made the post-mortem examination that the
deceased was not enciente. The trial commenced December 18, and ended on the
24th of the same month, in a verdict of not guilty. The State was represented by
Hon. John E. Lamb, Prosecuting Attorney; Ambrose B. Carlton, and Thomas J.
Wolfe. The defendant was represented by Sewell Coulson, whom Mr. McKee selected
to lead in the defense, John C. Briggs, George W. Buff, John T. Hays and James
B. Patton. It is only fair to counsel, in behalf of the defense, to say that it
is very difficult to say who did the most toward securing the defendant's
acquittal. Each and every one did his whole duty. The arguments to the jury on
the part of the defense were made by Messrs. Buff, Briggs and Coulson in the
order named. Wolfe opened the case for the State, followed by Carlton and Lamb.
The arguments on both sides were earnest and logical, marked, however, with more
invective and acrimony than was necessary.

   The defendant, from the commencement to the close of the trial, never closed
his eyes to sleep. The interest taken in the trial was intense. On the one hand,
McKee had bitter enemies, who became such during the war, that used every
exertion to crush him in this terrible struggle for his life; a knowledge of
that fact brought to his side scores of warm and sympathizing friends, who were
willing to aid him in any way they could. The court house was crowded at all
times during the trial. After the conclusion of the arguments and the court had
instructed the jury, they retired to make up the verdict. The jury was sent out
on Saturday evening. The suspense that followed their retirement and continued
till their return into court on Monday morning is indescribable. The very clouds
that hung in the horizon or lazily floated across the sky seemed to bow their
heads in ominous silence to catch a whisper from the jury room. Anxiety was
depicted on every countenance. Men sat in the court room from morning till night
and from night till morning, anxiously hoping for something to transpire that
would indicate how the jury stood. Every incident, however trifling, was seized
upon and discussed by those around, and its probable bearing pointed out. On
entering the court room, it presented more of the appearance and solemnity of a
death chamber than that of a court of justice; though crowded to its utmost
capacity, not a whisper, not a stir, and not a sound, but the heavy and sonorous
breathing of the crowd, superinduced by the intense feeling that had fallen upon
the crowd, that caused the blood to throb and flow irregularly, and the heart to
forget her ordinary labor, that brought forth the involuntary sigh as nature
gasped for relief, could be heard. A painfully deep, solemn and inexpressible
silence pervaded the room. Anxiety and suspense was visible in the manner and
countenance of the Judge on the bench; the court officials, as they quietly
discharged their official duties; the attorneys, as they sat about the bar, and
the spectators. The atmosphere was filled with this feeling—the walls of the
court room, the frescoing, the Judge's stand, and even the members seemed to
express the most agonizing feelings of suspense, mingled with fear. This
terrible feeling was relieved about 9 o'clock on Monday morning, when the jury
filed into court and took their seats and answered to their names as follows:
Thomas McClung, James M. Douthell, David Fry, James D. Howard, Alonzo Colton,
John O. Collins, Martin Robbins, Thomas Douthell, John Rohammel, Samuel M.
Howard, John Cleavland and Washington Booker. When the verdict of not guilty was
read, the tension gave way, not in wild rapturous shouts of rejoicing, but to
that peaceful gladness that swelled up from the heart and brought with it tears
mingled with smiles, the most soothing balm his friends could apply to the
wounds and bruises McKee received in the terrible contest just ended. The ordeal
was too great for his physical constitution, it shattered his health; in a few
months thereafter he was attacked with pneumonia and only survived a few days.

THE SHEPHERD-ENGLE MURDER CASE.

   No cases of much importance came before the court till the April term, 1878,
at which the case of the State of Indiana against Thomas Shepherd, charged with
the murder of one Mason Engle, came on for trial before Hon. Thomas B. Long,
Judge of the Criminal Circuit Court of Vigo County on a change of venue from
Judge Patterson. The transactions that gave rise to this prosecution are
substantially as follows: The deceased, Mason Engle, was a worthless kind of a
man in possession of an extremely vicious temper. He was married and had at
least one child. He had frequent quarrels with his wife, which on several
occasions led to separations. When living separately, Mrs. Engle made a living
by various kinds of labor. The defendant was a young unmarried man, but was
carrying on farming on a large scale, and had two unmarried sisters keeping
house for him. He also had a couple of farm hands employed that boarded with
him. Shortly previous to the homicide, Engle and his wife were living separate,
and Shepherd had taken some material to Mrs. Engle for the purpose of and
employed her to make soap for him. When he went after the soap, he found Engle
at home with his wife. A difficulty at once ensued between the two men. Engle
attempted to strike Shepherd with a stick of stove wood. Shepherd proved to be
the stoutest and best man, and administered a severe beating on Engle. Engle
caused Shepherd to be arrested and fined, and also brought a civil action
against him for damages before a Justice in Greene County. This cause was
pending and was to have been tried on the day following the homicide. Engle and
wife lived in a log cabin near the cross roads east of Mr. Samuel Buddin's
residence. Shepherd lived nearly six miles east of Engle's, in Greene County.
Engle's house stood on the south side of the road and fronted north. The north
door was in the center of the house east and west. There was a small four-light,
eight-by-ten glass window close by, and on the west side of the door, with the
lower and east pane of glass broken out. The bed was located in the southeast
corner of the house, with head to the south. There was a stand table in the
southwest corner. Just after dusk and before it was dark, Engle lay down on the
bed with his head to the north, resting his head upon his right arm, with his
face to the west. The child was on the bed back of him. A lamp was sitting on
the stand table. A shot, it was claimed, was fired through the place in the
window where the glass was broken out, which struck Engle, and from the effects
of which he died.

   The first indictment against Shepherd was returned by the grand jury at the
June term, 1875. He was tried upon this indictment and found guilty and
sentenced to the penitentiary for life. The cause was appealed to the Supreme
Court, and reversed at the November term, 1876, and remanded to the Sullivan
Circuit Court with directions to quash the indictment.

   On the 17th of April, 1876, a new indictment was returned against Shepherd;
this indictment was quashed on the defendant's motion at the June term, 1877. On
the 19th day of June, another indictment was returned. Upon this indictment,
Shepherd was again put upon his trial at the April term, 1878, and found guilty
of murder in the first degree, and sentenced to the penitentiary during life. An
appeal was again taken to the Supreme Court, but on the allotment of causes,
Shepherd had the misfortune to fall into the hands of Judge Biddle, then one of
the Judges of that court—a man deficient in every element necessary to make a
good Judge—and the cause was aifirmed. Shepherd was sent to the Southern prison,
where he still remains. The State was represented by Hon. John E. Lamb,
Prosecuting Attorney, and Thomas J.Wolfe, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney. The
defendant was represented by Hon. George W. Buff, John T. Hays and Sewell Coulson.

THE RAILROAD CASES.

   Nothing of special importance came before the Circuit Court from this time up
to the March term, 1880, except the initiation of the case of Levi Overholser,
et al., against the Cincinnati, Effingham & Quincy Construction Company, and
others at the December term, 1878. This proved to be the most fruitful cause for
litigation ever in the Sullivan Circuit Court, and for some time gave almost
constant employment to the entire Sullivan bar as well as a number of attorneys
from other places, especially Chicago. John T. Hays, Esq., was elected
Prosecuting Attorney for the Fourteenth Judicial Circuit at the regular State
and county election in 1878, which office he very creditably filled till 1880,
when Perry H. Blue was elected his successor, and discharged the duties of his
position with ability and integrity till 1882.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF GREENE AND SULLIVAN COUNTIES,
STATE OF INDIANA,
FROM THE EARLIEST TIME TO THE PRESENT; TOGETHER WITH INTERESTING BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCHES, REMINISCENCES, NOTES, ETC.

ILLUSTRATED.

CHICAGO: GOODSPEED BROS. & CO., PUBLISHERS.
1884.




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