300 - Murder Trial. and laborer, and had considerable claims for such labor, while Richardson could not be induced to pay, or do anything except to taunt Porter that he could not collect his claims. This taunt without denying in any manner the justice of the claim, he would cast up to Porter in the most aggravating manner. At last P or ter became indignant and irritated beyond the power of his endurance. One evening after dark, while Richardson was sitting in his hail with his family and others around him, Porter came unexpectedly and immediately shot him dead in his chair. Porter went off announcing that it was he. Great excitement was produced over the whole river, and much search was made to find Porter. After a day, or two Porter returned—gave himself up, avowing that he did the act to avenge his wrongs. He was incarcerated, and in due time brought to trial in the Supreme Court for the county. That court was held by Judge Peter Hitchcock and Judge Henry Brush. I was the Prosecuting Attorney, and Mr. Higgins (afterward Judge) was appointed to defend Porter. Porter did not desire to make any defence, became religiously convicted, and very penitent. It was with difficulty that his friends could persuade him to go into a trial, with the hope of procuring his acquittal on the grounds of his insanity. But when the defence commenced, that ground was urged with energy and ability. Mr. Higgins urged every circumstance to the jury to prove his insanity and want of discretion. He called the attention of the jury to the fact, that by law he had the right to make his choice to be tried in the Court of Common Pleas instead of the Supreme Court, which would delay his trial and put it off until some time late in the fall. Judge Hitchcock noticed the turn that this argument might take ; and never missing an opportunity of perpetrating his wit and jokes, called out : " What, what, Mr. Higgins, do you contend that it is evidence of the man's insanity, that he chooses to be tried by us ? " In opposition to this claim of insanity, I put the grounds of prose-cation upon the theory adopted by Lord Erskine in Hadfield's case: That every person is responsible for his acts whenever he acts upon actual facts and real circumstances. That all that Porter claimed as motives for his acts—the injuries and insults received from Richardsonwere all founded upon actual facts and real circumstances. There was no delusion or unreal facts about his case. Whatever acts he committed, or whatever motives actuated him, they were like all the rational acts of the rest of mankind, founded upon real facts and actual circumstances. The court adopted this view of the case, and Porter was convicted. In about a month afterward, in pursuance of the judgment of the court, he was executed by being hung, in the ravine at the east end of Fort Meigs. Thus terminated a tragedy in which the law triumphed, where the sympathies of the people of Wood county were far more with Porter than with Richardson. About 1825, Judge Lane succeeded Judge Tod as Judge of the The Old Bench—Trips to Defiance -301 Common Pleas, and about the same time the courts were organized at Defiance for Williams county, then including all the northwestern part of the State west of Wood county. Judge Lane's circuit of the Common Pleas then included the whole of the Northwestern part of the State—including the counties of Huron, Richland, Delaware, and Union, being fully one-fourth of the State. He was very punctual in attending the courts of Perrysburg and Defiance, and Gage and myself always accompanied him ; and they were frequently attended by other lawyers from other parts of the country. Those excursions from Perrysburg to Defiance, in attending the courts there, 'were enjoyed with rare pleasure and attended with considerable excitement. We usually made the trip on horse-back, but frequently when the river was in a high stage of water, we would procure a canoe at Defiance and make our way back by water. We frequently took two days to make the trip, and then would make Prairie Damasque our half-way stopping place over night, at the house of Judge Vance, a brother of Governor Vance, of Ohio ; a welcome and desirable resting place ; and 'which was made thrice interesting and acceptable by his good French lady for a wife, whose accomplishments, especially as a housekeeper, made his home and hospitality most acceptable. At that time, Defiance consisted only of a feww houses, such as would be found at a new town of the smaller dimensions ; a warehouse on the bank of the river afforded a court house, and the house of Mr. Levell afforded us a hotel. Yet the term there was attended with interest and pleasure. Frequently the cases tried were of a highly interesting character—creating considerable excitement: Many lawyers were frequently congregated there from various parts of Ohio, sometimes Judge Ewing and a Mr. Cooper, from Fort "Wayne. At those times our social meetings were often animated and highly interesting.. Judge Lane, so distinguished for his learning and intelligence, and who afterward became one of the ablest of the distinguished Judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and forms a brilliant figure in its judicial history, would be our leader in learning, science and literature ; Gage, in anecdotes, jokes and eccentricities ; and all would contribute, what in any country or society, would render the gathering marked and highly interesting. Nor was the journey void of many interesting incidents. Among which is that of Gage getting a man at Prairie Demasque so far entangled in the meshes of the law, as to secure him under the promise of professional assistance, to engage to take us up to Defiance in a canoe, by water. Our horses were left at the Prairie, and, we were relieved by a voyage instead of a ride. When we arrived at Defiance, Gaze made a new engagement with his client, that, in case he would clear him from his legal restraints, he would take us all back again to the Prairie at' the end of, the term. Gage soon procured a writ of habeas corpus, upon which his client was released ; And as compensation for which, we were taken back by water, and 302 - Perils of Navigating the Rapids. Gage had a long standing credit, of. killing two birds with one stone—engaging. the man to take us up, by getting him into difficulty, and then to take us back again, by getting him out. In return from court at Defiance, in the spring of year (1 think it was 1827), Gage and myself came down the river in a canoe. The river was extremely high at that time, and we made our way down rapidly and pleasantly until we were below Roche de Boeuf. So far we had passed the dangers of the rapids without difficulty ; but when we were near the island, opposite Waterville, a person on the south shore, near to which we were keeping and intended to keep, called out to us, as though he intended to give us some important instructions, which we took to be, to "keep close to the island," but it possibly may have been as we intendedep to do, to keep close to the shore. The river was high, and the rolling surges of the water on the rapids just below the island, was truly terrific. It was much more like the frightful waves of the ocean in a boisterous storm, than anything else it could be compared to. In accordance with what we took to be the directions of the stranger, we turned our canoe towards the island, and along the shore of which we passed forward without difficulty. But im mediately upon leaving the foot of the island, we found ourselves, in a frail canoe, in the midst of the frightful waves and breakers of the rapids, and by them tossed so that it seemed impossible for us to live a moment. I turned my sight towards Gage, and beheld the most frightened face I ever saw upon man ; and perhaps mine was no better. We immediately made for the shore again, and our perils were soon over. It was indeed a very providential escape from the most imminent danger. I have seen many perils, but I look upon that moment as the most critical of my whole life. One of the most interesting characters of the persons csrho were figuring on the Maumee in those early days, was that of a person, then and since well known as Major Stickney. This person had been appointed by Mr. Jefferson as Indian Agent, and as such had long resided in the Western country—first at Upper Sandusky, and then at Fort Wayne. About the time I came to the Maumee, he was residing at the mouth of Swan Creek, on the immediate banks of the river, at a place then known as Port Lawrence. He was a man of some intelligence, and assumed to be a scholar and philosopher. His wife was a highly respectable lady—every way amiable, and a daughter of the celebrated General Stark, of the Revolution. But Mrs. Stickney's accomplishments did not prevent him from resorting to all kinds of eccentricities. A part this to be as much possible, like no body else. This he of carried out in the naming of his children. Not after any names found in either Christian or profane history ; but the boys were to represent the numerals, and the girls the States—as far as their numbers would go. The boys therefore, were named One, and Two, etc., and though he condescended tel name his eldest daughter, from respect Major Benjamin F Stickney - 303 to Mrs. Stickney, Mary, the rest of his daughters were named after the States—Indiana, Michigan etc. This eccentricity produced some of the most ridiculous anecdotes; amongst which is the fol- lowing : Soon after the family moved to Port Lawrence, and living in a house put up at the landing of the mouth of Swan Creek, Mrs. S. one morning came to the piazza in front of the house, where a vessel laid at anchor, and called to her sons, and said, " Two call One to breakfast." A sailor aboard the vessel looked up and said : "Is this Maumee ? It is a terrible hard country, if' it takes two to call one to breakfast." In the spring of 1821, Major Stickney was a ruling spirit at Swan Creek. There was then a thriving settlement in the neighborhood, amongst which was a Mr. Wilson, the custom house officer of the port, Major Keeler, living on his farm, and others whose names I have forgotten, besides a number of French, Indian traders and immigrants—Yankees and foreigners. Up to this time Swan Creek had been without a question within the jurisdiction of Ohio. Writs had been issued from Maumee, in Wood county to them, as witnesses, jurors and suitors, and they until then, had answered as such without a question as to jurisdiction. But other views had entered into Major Stickney's policy and philosophy. He called a public meeting of the citizens; and to them when thus assembled, he represented, that the citizens of the incipient city had very seriously mistaken their interest as to the question—where the true northern line of the State of Ohio was. He did not care as to what the constitution of the State of Ohio said on the subject—the true line was the one run due east from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan which run considerably south of' Port Lawrence, and would leave them in the Territory of Michigan, instead of the State of Ohio, and therefore they were Wolverines instead of Buckeyes. That it was greatly their interest to be so. That while they were citizens of the Territory they would be cherished and protected under the auspices and guardianship of the United States ; while in Ohio, they could. not expect anything except to be taxed. He said he was well acquainted with General Cass, the Governor of Michigan, and would go to him, and get a commission of a Justice of the Peace for Michigan for that place, in case the citizens there would sustain him. The motion carried—the secession was complete. Major S. procured his commission and was exercising the jurisdiction of a Justice of the Peace of Michigan over the seceded territory. Soon after these things had matured, General J. E Hunt, of Maumee, had some official business to transact at Port Law- rence, as an officer of Wood county. The citizens there threw every obstacle in his way to prevent the discharge of' his duties, and to convince him that they had really seceded. General II. returned with just complaint of the conduct of the citizens there. A meeting of the Commissioners of the county was called, at which I acted as advisory member, as Prosecuting Attorney. The question 304 - Major Srickney's Policy. was, what shall be done with the seceding rebels—shall they be prosecuted and hung ? Perhaps so, if justice were done them. But mild and discreet measures and counsels were adopted. It Was considered that Congress and the State of Ohio would in due time settle the question, and in the meantime it was neither discreet nor prudent to get up a war which could be avoided. This policy pre, vailed, and they were let " alone in their glory." In the meantime a very serious and interesting question arose in the affairs of the Maumee Valley. Under the authority of the State of Ohio, a survey had been made for a canal along the valley, and the great question was where that canal should terminate. Judge Gaddis, of New York, who had been employed as Civil Engineer for Ohio, had reconnoitered the valley and determined that the canal should terminate at the foot of the rapids—that a dam with a sloop lock should be placed on Knagg's bar, just below Maumee City and Perrysburg, and the river from there down, to be improved for ship navigation. When this matter was so ascertained, Major Stickney called another meeting of the citizens of Swan Creek, and to them he now represented that they had committed a great error in seceding from Ohio, and going over to Michigan ; that while they belonged to Michigan, they could not expect that the State of Ohio would construct the canal to Swan Creek. They must go back to Ohio. They must secede from Michigan and go back to Ohio again. They must undo their former secession and rebellion, or they could not expect to secure the canal. Thereupon all sorts of resolutions were adopted, to the effect, that they were, and of right should be a part and parcel of the State of Ohio ; that Ohio was a great and glorious State, and that they would maintain their position, if necessary, at the point of the bayonet. These measures succeeded in arousing Michigan to a demonstration of war. Militia soldiers were sent from Detroit by land and water to Swan Creek, to whip the rebels into subjection to their legitimate authority. They came, in war arrayed, and took possession of the territory where the proud City of Toledo now stands, made the citizens succumb to the power and jurisdiction of Michigan. They returned back to Detroit in the most jubilant triumph, drinking all sorts of toasts to the glory of Michigan and to anathematize Major Stickney in Ohio, one of which was, " Here is to Major Stickney's potatoes and onions—we draft their tops and their bottoms volunteer." This was all to the wishes of the Major, and in accordance with his policy. He went immediately to Columbus to represent to the Governor and people of Ohio, the intolerable barbarity of the Wolverines, and how they had desecrated the just authority of Ohio, and trampled under foot the loyal citizens of the State. The State Was aroused by these means to a proper sense of her dignity and injuries. War was declared, and troops raised in every part of the State. :Regiment after regiment were marched to the disputed territory on, Reminiscences of Mr. Powell - 305 the Maumee. Some fighting was done, and little blood spilt, but the transaction will be remembered as the Michigan War of 1835. In the meantime, however, Congress interfered by sending Peace Commissioners to the distracted country, and by making the disputed territory a part of the State of Ohio. This settled the question of jurisdiction, and the excitement produced by the war enabled Major Stickney to get the canal not only to Toledo, but even to Manhattan, five miles beyond where they wanted it, or had any use for it. Never, in either ancient or modern history, has there been an instance of secession and rebellion so successful, and no one is so entitled to be the hero of one of them, as Major Stickney of this. I have thus sketched a number of incidents in my reminiscences of the times I was a citizen of'. the Valley of the Maumee. And now it may be inquired by some one, how it was that I came to leave the country, after a residence there of ten .years, and having so admired the country and so hopeful of its future ? I never changed my opinion of the country in either of these respects ; but after battling for its prosperity so' long, I became convinced that the time for its prosperity, that I so firmly anticipated, would not come in time to answer my purpose. But in this, after all, I may have committed an error of judgment. From various causes the valley did not progress and improve, from 1825 to 1835, as was anticipated by almost all its friends. None changed their opinion of its ultimate destiny—it was only a question of time ; and in that I had been mistaken. From 1820 to 1830, a vast new country was thrown open by the United States to emigration. Throughout the whole West, there were numerous enticing places, holding forth their future promises to emigrants, besides the Maumee. During that time thousands of emigrants passed through the Maumee Valley to Indiana, Michigan, and other parts of the West; and it seemed as though they purposely avoided this valley. The principal pause of this, was then well known—the unhealthiness of the country. Since then such a change has come over the healthiness of the country, that no one who resided there during that time that I made it my residence, could believe that it would become so far improved as it is at the present time. During the forepart of my residence there, the amount of sickness arising from bilious complaints in the shape of ague and fevers—intermittent and remittent of the most virulent type, was often frightful. This sickness would commence in September and October, and last until some time in the cold weather of the coming winter. Those who have been in the country some years would become acclimated, and would' be exempt from the effect of the sickly season. But during the time I was there, the stranger who remained there would be as certain to be taken down in the course of the sickly season as that he remained. I have known whole families who came there in the spring of the - 20 - 306 - The late Count Coffinberry. year to be in the fall every one of them taken down, so that there would not be enough well persons to take care of those who were sick. Yet, by Christmas and New Year, all this would be entirely forgotten, and all would become jubilant and joyful. The old citizens who had been there before the war of 1812, declared that before the war, the country was healthy, and did not at all suffer from bilious complaints. Without stopping to speculate upon the question, how it came that the country was so much healthier before the war, and has so greatly improved in pint of health since 1835, will only say that the character of the country for health from 1820 to 1835, was the great cause of the delay in the rapid improvement of the country, which, with the wet character of the lands in the country back from the river, caused a delay in the settlement and improvement of the country, and brought it almost to a standstill from 1825 to 1835. In the fall of 1830, I became utterly discouraged, and so disappointed in my expectations, which were that the country would grow up as Toledo has since, that I came to the reluctant determination to leave the country. I left there in November, 1830, after a most determined struggle of ten years for the interest and prosperity of the valley. A few weeks before Jno. C. Spink, Esq., came there as a resident lawyer, and occupied my place and office ; whose memory still lives fresh in the recollection of the present inhabitants the country, and over whose decease, they are ready, I doubt not, to bestow a sympathetic tear to his many generous qualities and virtues. I must now close, with the warmest and kindest feelings of respect for those old citizens of the valley with whom I was so long identified in the struggle for the welfare and prosperity of the COUNT COFFINBERRY Conspicuous among the old time lawyers of the Maumee Valley, and beloved by his professional brethren, and by all with whom he came in contact, was the good Count Coffinberry. He obtained his sobriquet by reason of his genteel address, and uniformly nice apparel. In these personal matters, Judge Potter was also, in those days, fastidious, and during his judicial service, accompanied often by roystering members of the bar, and tossed about for lodgings in miscellaneous places, he would permit no one to share his room and bed except the Count. When traversing the circuit, the journeys always being on horseback, the Count carried in his portmanteau, or saddle-bags a con- The late Count Coffinberry - 307 siderable wardrobe. It was during a heated term of the summer solstice, when the roads were supposed to have been exhausted of water and mud, that Judge Potter, Judge Higgins, Mr. Coffinberry, John C. Spink, James G. Haley, and some others, left Defiance for Kalida, to attend the opening of the Common Pleas Court. The good Count had decked himself in his best—fearing no evil in the form of rain or of water or mud ; but somehow, before the party traversed those thirty-two miles, his apparel, so faultless on starting out, was in a condition when he reached Kalida to exhibit him as the most sorry specimen of the whole party —the mud-marks upon his linen being more conspicuous than those upon the coarser garments of his travelling companions, and giving his clothing the general appearance of the unchangeable spots of the leopard. He was in ill-humor with himself, by reason of his personal appearance, when he entered the village; but the contents of his portmanteau enabled him to appear next morning, as usual, "nice as a pin." One who, during the life-time of Mr. Coffinberry, was a junior member of the bar, but since achieved eminence in his profession, contributes the following : Andrew Coffinberry, Esq., was born at Martinsburg, Berkley county, Virginia, August 20th,, 1788, where his grandparents had settled in 1750, having emigrated from Wirtemburg and Strasburg. He removed with his father, George Coffinberry or Coffinbarger, as his German neighbors called him, to Ohio county, Virginia, in 1799, and from there to Chilicothe, Ohio, in 1806; thence to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1807. At this place he left his father and shipped for two years in the naval service, and served his time under Bainbridge and Hull, then rejoined his father, who had removed to Mansfield, Ohio, in the fall of 1808, or spring of 1809. He remained with his father during the war 12-13, living sometimes in a log cabin, and at others, when the settlement was menaced by hostile Indians, in one of the two block-houses erected upon the public square of the village. At the close of the war he read law with John M. May, Esq., at Mansfield, where he continued to reside until he removed to Perrysburg, in 1836. For some years before leaving Mansfield, he regularly attended the sessions of the Common Pleas and Supreme Courts in all or nearly all the counties of Northwestern Ohio, beginning with the organization of most of these counties, and continuing down to a few years before his death, which transpired at Findlay, Ohio, May 12, 1856. We are not able to state definitely at what time he first began to attend the Courts of Wood and Lucas counties, but he was of counsel to Governor Lucas in the border controversy between the State of Ohio and Territory of Michigan, and accompanied Governor Lucas country, and to them I bid an affectionate farewell. THOMAS W. POWELL. 308 - The late Count Coffinberry. in his military expedition to the frontier, for the purpose of vindicating by the wager of kirk, the title of the State of Ohio to the harbor of Toledo, in the spring of 1835. There are but few of his cotemporaries left to bear testimony to his ability as a lawyer and his worth as a man. But when it is understood that for almost half. a century he was associated in the practice of his profession with men of the character and caliber of Thomas Ewing, Charles H. Sherman, William and Henry Stanberry, Willis Silliman, Ebenezer Lane, Josiah Scott, Orris Parish, T. W. Bartley, Jacob Parker, and Hosmer and Henry B. Curtis; and in the later years of his life with Richard Cook, Geo. B. Way, John C. Spink, Thomas W. Powell, Henry S. Commager, D. O. Morton, M. H. Tilden, M. R. Waite, and many others scarcely less distinguished lawyers of the Maumee Valley ; and that he was beloved and honored by them without an exception, it is almost superfluous for us to say that he was not only an excellent lawyer, an honest, honorable man, but a great hearted, genial gentleman as well. His boyhood was passed so entirely upon the extreme verge of Western civilization, and so surrounded with the perils of Indian warfare and the vicissitudes of pioneer life, as to deprive him of the advantages of early culture. He informed us that he had attended school for but three months of his life, but by his own unaided efforts he acquired a good English education, made considerable proficiency in the study of the French and German languages, and became a well read and thoroughly intelligent man. He was indifferent to the acquisition of wealth, fearless and out spoken in the expression of his convictions on all subjects, never united with a church, and never became a member of any association, order or society of any kind. He was without malice, and there was no taint of bitterness or ill-nature in his composition, but he could not tolerate pedantry, hypocrisy or humbug of any kind. He was faithful to all his engagements, zealous and efficient in the cause of his client. If he ever had a hobby, it was his passion for the study and investigation of geological science. His habits were always good, his life was simple and pure, but amongst all his compeers no one enjoyed convivial occasions more than he, whilst his quaint wit and pleasant temper contributed largely to the enjoyment of others. Many good stories are told of him. Having one night attended the wedding party of his friends John M. May and Miss Eliza Wolf; his 4 years old boy appeared at his bedside at day break the next morning, and called him to account for keeping late hours the night before. He was told that his father and mother had been out until after midnight helping May catch a Wolf. The urchin took to his trotters and made a straight shirt-tail, (having no other garment on) for May's lodging, where he promptly appeared shouting, "Mr May, I want to see your Wolf." May replied "here she is, 'Gunner,' come and see her." The urchin scrambled upon the bed and was fairly caught by "Mr. May's Wolf." The late Count Coffinberry -309 Being pitted against Judge Higgins, at Kalida, in the defence of a slander suit. the Judge who was a venerable looking man, with a pale face and hair as white as snow, closed his speech by reading with solemn voice and reverent air, sever al verses from the Bible condemnatory of the tongue of the slanderer, &c. Apprehensive that it was getting to be a solemn occasion for his client, the Count slowly rose to his feet, adjusted his spectacles, elevated his nose to an angle of about 45 degrees, and in a most clerical tone addressed himself to the Court and said : " Your Honors, shall we sin!! " The Judges struggled till they were black in the face to comport themselves with becoming dignity ; but it would not do ; judges, jurors, lawyers and spectators were convulsed with laughter, but the Count looked as solemn as a funeral, while Judge Higgins' unfortunate client was being literally laughed out of Court. The Count and his son James were upon one occasion opposed to each other in a trial before the Wood County Common Pleas, of a suit brought to recover damages for deceit practiced in the sale of a horse. A young gentleman of about his own age had given very damaging evidence to the younger Coffinberry's case, and for the purpose of belittling the witness, and having the jury understand that he was but an inexperienced boy, James on cross examination continually addressed him as " George," which the Count thought unbecoming in his son, and disrespectful to his intelligent witness. Finally James said : 'George, won't you tell the Court and jury what state of flesh that horse was in ?" Whereupon the Count leaned over the table towards his son, and whispered just loud enough to be heard by everybody in the court room : "Teems,' that creetur was probably in a state of horse flesh." "Jeems " subsided. The writer of the foregoing, although possessing better opportunities than any one living for a knowledge of the character of the Count, is mistaken on one point. He did belong to a secret society, and on one occasion, as High Priest of the " sublime order" of the Thousand and One, during a Court term at Findlay, was master of the imposing ceremonies attending the initiation of the late Ben. Metcalf and " the subscriber, " then both residents of Kalida, into the mysteries of that wonderful organization. It was an impressive scene, and one which the surviving witnesses will not forget, while memory holds its seat. General Hill, of Toledo, relates the following anecdote of the Count : The dignity and grace of the Count, in addressing a Court or jury, were conspicuous, and even his attitude was very marked. In the year 1840 he was the Whig candidate for the State Senate, and Colonel William Sawyer, then a resident of Miamisburg, Montgom- 310 - The Count on the Stump. ery county, was the Democratic candidate for Congress against Patrick G. Goode. It was during the famous "hard-cider and log cabin" campaign, and party spirit ran high. Colonel Sawyer, having been advertised to address a meeting at Maumee City, the friends of Mr. Coffinberry challenged Sawyer to engage in a joint discussion to be held at Perrysburg. Colonel Sawyer promptly accepted the challenge. The odds were unequal, as the Count, although a lawyer of acknowledged power, possessed none of the elements which form the successful politician ; while Sawyer was an old campaigner, and thoroughly posted on public measures and party issues, and on all the arts and devices of the politician. Under the arrangement, Sawyer made the opening speech. He charged upon the leaders of the Whig party that they were aristocrats, controlling the banking and moneyed interests of the country, and that their professed sympathy with the real dwellers in log cabins was a sham and a fraud. The wire-pullers of the Whig party, he said, occupied the palaces of the land, and were arrayed in purple and fine linen. [And here he gave a significant glance at the Count himself, designed to convey the intimation that he was "one of em. "] “As to myself," continued Sawyer, " I was born in a log cabin, and I yet reside in a log cabi n. My blacksmith shop, where, when at home, my circumstances compel me to severe toil about twelve hours out of the twenty-four, is a log cabin. My associations, sympathies and hopes have ever been, and now are, identified with the pioneers of the country, and the occupants of log cabins. Can my highly aristocratic friend who is to follow me in this discussion, and who resides in a lordly mansion almost within sight of this audience, say this for himself?' Slightly embarrassed and vexed, the Count rose, struck his characteristic " attitude, " and commenced by deprecating the personal allusions in which his friend, Colonel Sawyer, had thought proper to indulge. To get even with his opponent, he tossed his head back to a point that looked towards the zenith, and exclaimed, with great emphasis : " Yes, gentlemen, if there is any merit in having been b—o—r—n in a log cabin, I, too, Mr. Chairman, and ladies, and fellow- citizens, was born in a log cabin—in the .first instance ! " The latter part of the sentence being one that he was accustomed to use in his opening addresses before courts and juries. This incident virtually closed the political controversy between Mr. Coffinberry and Colonel Sawyer, and, for that campaign, at least, virtually placed the former upon the retired list. A scene that in our day would be considered rare in a court room, but one that, in the time it occurred, was a characteristic episode, happened at the fall term of the Court of Common Pleas held in Napoleon, in 1839, the first year of Potter's judicial service. The Court at this time occupied the second floor over the kitchen and dining room of the tavern kept by General Leonard, This was a Covert scene at Napoleon - 311 story-and-a-half log house, covering about 16 by 25 feet of gtheround end The Court were seated upon a platform slightly elevated, at of the room opposite the narrow door-way and stair case and to the right of the Court sat the jury, a rough-looking, their but honest body of men, as fully alive to the responsibilities of oaths, as twelve men who could probably now be selected to discharge the same duties in Henry county. The jury occupied a single row of puncheon seats, so placed that they could rest their shoulders against the log walls of the building —something after the custom adopted for a class of boys and girls in an old time spelling school. The case on trial was an. old once—not as musty, probably, as the chancery suit described by Dickens, " Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce ; " yet it had much odor of antiquity. It was familiarly known to the old habitues of the court sessions, and particularly to the clerk who wrote the docket, as " Morehead vs Rohn ; " and a suit that originated in a claim of plaintiff for a pig, which he valued at two and a half dollars. As near as can be ascertained, the claim was commenced be- fore a Justice of the Peace some time during the first quarter of the present century ; and Judge Potter found this case upon his calendar when he held his first Court at Napoleon. As regards both parties to the controversy, it will be inferred, all reflections upon the disputed title to the swine aside, that the litigation in its inception and progress, developed in both adversaries qualities savoring in an eminent degree of pig-headedness. At this term, all expedients for further delays and postponements having been exhausted, and the uncompromising belligerents having each expended nearly their substance—the " bottom dollar" of both being then visible to the naked eye—there was reason to believe that the conflict would be brought to a final close. Defendant's counsel was an old and able Attorney, and extremely punctilious on points of judicial decorum, (having himself occupied the bench,) and was also possessed of a murcurial and sanguine temperament. The oft-repeated testimony in the case was again rehearsed and closed. The attorney for defendant had labored faithfully for his client, and it now became in order for him to address the jury. It was his habit to wear spectacles not only when he had occasion to refer to and read the law authorities and his manuscript notes, but also during, the time occupied in expounding matters to the jury, which he had a peculiar style in adjusting, so arranging them that pile of the glasses would cover an eye, while 312 - Court Scene at Napoleon. the other would be turned downward, and rest upon his cheek; Hence he would only "go one eye" on the jury, or on any other given object. It was also his custom to select a single juryman, and concentrate his look and speech upon him alone. This he was particular to do in the present instance. But it so happened that at one end of the range of puncheon seats Occupied by the jury, and tha tend the head and most conspicuous, as well as most convenient to the grotesque vision of the attorney, there was a vacant space just large enough to seat another man. A spectator who had become weary of standing upon his feet, discovered this opening, and at a moment when the lawyer had paused in his address, and was engaged in a search for some law authority on the table before him, this "sovereign" quietly took possession of the vacant place. The attorney lifted his countenance from the book, baying read his authority; and, not discovering that one had been added to the lawful number of jurymen, resumed his address: " Gentlemen of the jury, " [looking full in the face, through both eyes—one, as usual, naked, and the other clothed with a lens—at the raw recruit, whom he had mistaken for one of the jury, and, judging from his conspicuous position, very likely the foreman]. "Gentlemen of the jury, I want to know what this man," [meaning, of course, the plaintiff,]" has come into Court for ? ?Why is he here ? Now, I repeat, gentlemen of the jury, why is he here ? The self-chosen juror, not doubting that these high-sounding interrogatories were addressed to any other than himself, made haste to utter a tremendous oath, that fairly "roared in the index "—there were some profane, vulgar people in those days, as there are many now- " I'm around. sir, a witness; have been here these three days, waitin' for my fees, and nary a dime can I git. That's what I'm here for! Pay me my witness fees, sir, and git out. " The attorney was shocked, dumbfounded, and very tremendously insulted. An explosion by members of the bar, bench, and others was imminent, The Court put on its most elaborate marble front. The brethren of the bar, among whom were the genial and mirth-loving Count Coffinberry, James G. Haley and John C. Spink, struggled manfully to maintain the proprieties ;—broad grins overshadowed some of the countenances of the jury and spectators ; while the unconscious offender sat as one suffering from a momentary paralysis. The irate counsel, choking with passion, and losing sight, in The late John C. Spink - 313 of his exacerbation, of the wealth of humor involved in the scene, demanded the protection of the Court, and the condign punishment of the offender! This appeal was promptly complied with by Judge Potter, so far as to say to the man: " My friend, you will please find a situation a little lower down, and leave this space to the jury. " And thus ended this commingled tempest of wrath and merriment, and the attorney, after a while recovering .his equanimity, proceeded with his address to the jury. John C. Spink was one of the most brilliant and genial lawyers in the Maumee Valley. Prior to his removal hither, his residence had been in Wooster, of which city his family were pioneers, and held in high esteem. W. V. Way, Esq., of Perrysburg, communicates the following: "Some time in the fall of 1834. I was at the old court house, on Front street, and. Spink was riding past on an Indian pony. I had some business with him, and requested him. to stop. He replied that he had an engagement at Sloane's tavern, on the opposite side of the street, and requested that I cross over there, where we would transact our business. T. informed Spink that his request was unreasonable owing, to the condition of the streets, (at that time there were neither side-walks nor cross-walks, and a sea of mud extended from the court house to Sloane's) and in order to reach there I should be compelled to walk a great distance around. Spink, in a joking way, said, that I should get up behind him, on the pony, and ride across. I seconded the joke,, and sprang on; my feet, after getting on, reaching to the ground. I had scarcely mounted when the Polly commenced kicking, and practicing a lively double: shuffle—plunging out into the depths of the sea of mud and water ; but it was late for me to get off without going to my knees in the mud. Spink headed the pony for the tavern, and the beast persisted in. just what might have been expected of him, if he had been indulging at the bar, and about leaving the tavern. The farther we progressed, the more frantic became the kicks of the pony, until we sot nearly across the street, and where the mire was deepest, when Spink and myself were tossed over the animal's head into a world of trouble. When we straightened up, we found ourselves completely mud-clad. Spink's face was in a condition to destroy identification by his most intimate friends, and even his mouth was filled. My own plight was equally sorry. As soon as he could speak—both of 118 standing in the mire facing each other—he stretched himself up as though he were in court, and about to utter the great sentence indicative of triumph in his case, and shouted: 'Way, if we have been wallowing in the mud like two silly boys, we have the proud satisfaction of knowing that we are the two first lawyers in the county,—. 314 - Coffinberry and Spink. the point of which consisted in the fact that we were the only pr tieing lawyers in the county at that time." Mr. Way also relates the following on the authority of Josh Chappel, who commenced his residence in Perrysburg in 1817: "In 1819 a man was owing Jacob Wilkinson a debt of about nine dollars, payable in fish at the next fishing season. The seasons came, and the fish were caught ; but the debtor sold them, and pocketed the proceeds. Failing to meet his promise, Wilkinson called upon him, but could attain no other satisfaction than that if he wanted the fish, he must catch them himself. In those days there was great leniency on the part of creditors towards poor debtors who could not pay, although the law imprisoning for debt was then in force. Wilkinson considered this man a fit subject. for the extreme rigors of the law, and sued him—took judgment, and got out a ca sa —and had the debtor arrested, supposing that he would pay the small amount, rather than go to jail. Wood was then attached to Champaign county for civil purposes, and Urbana, about 150 miles distant, was the county seat, to which point the debtor would have to be taken to comply with the writ. The constable started with the prisoner, furnishing him a horse to ride. They proceeded through the woods, having nothing but an Indian trail to follow, by the way of Fort Findlay. At this time there was not a white inhabitant living between the foot of the rapids and Findlay. When they reached Urbana, the jailor refused to receive the prisoner, without payment of a week's board in advance, as the law provided. The constable, not having anticipated this demand, was not provided with the funds, and returned home with the prisoner in his company. It is said the constable's bill against Wilkinson for services and expenses amounted to a little. above $150." This case illustrates the disadvantages the early settles labored under in judicial proceedings ; and particularly presents a strong case where a man going to law may have the right on the merits, yet get badly beaten on the execution. There were several non-resident lawyers who traveled with the Presiding Judge from county to county through the circuit. They were commonly called circuit lawyers. The most prominent were Andrew Coffin berry and James Purdy, both then residents of Mansfield. Spink was the very embodiment of humor, and would turn every incident into fun. He was a genial and happy man in the society of those who could appreciate him. Count Coffinberry was, to all external appearance, as grave as a clergyman; yet he possessed a remarkable degree of humor, and only required some genius to draw his fire, and fun would begin in earnest. And just such a genius was Spink Both were endowed with rare gifts, and each seemed par- Old Court scenes at Perrysburg - 315 ticularly formed for the other ; yet two beings more unlike are rarely found. Each term of Court in Wood county was a carnival of fun for the lawyers. The Presiding Judge and circuit lawyers 'always put up at Spafford's Exchange, where the judge occupied habitually the best sleeping room in the house, a capacious apartment in the northwest corner. over the bar room, to which the lawyers resorted nightly for a social time. The Count, Spink and Way were the chief actors. Way was not naturally humorous, but the Count and. Spink had a way of playing about and making him funny in spite of himself, and the three constituted a capital theatrical stock company, including the orchestra, in which the Count represented the bassoon, Spink the violin, and May the trombone, while the Judge would act as stage manager. These entertainments were the most brilliant and hilarious during the time that our friend Judge Potter presided over the circuit. The Judge always preserved inviolate his dignity on the bench, but like a popular country school master would play with the boys out of school hours, and joined heartily in the laughs which his rare fund of humor always produced. The Judge sometimes opened the entertainment by singing his favorite song of 'Lord Level" which was always received with tremendous applause, and the encore frequently responded to by "Rosin the Bow," in which he was inimitable. Major McMillen and Ralph O. Keeler resided in the county at this time—Keeler near the present village of Weston, for whom the Keeler prairie was named, and McMillen about four miles south of Keeler in Milton township—and were about the first settlers in their respective neighborhoods. In those days the inhabitants were so few in the country that a large proportion of the population was necessary to make up the two juries and witnesses ; consequently they were very often obliged to come to Perrysburg during the periodical terms of Court, but quite as frequently their love of fun brought them to enjoy the holiday merriment of the " Bar Theatre." These entertainments were usually limited to the lawyers, but the rare social qualities and wit of Keeler and the Major, secured them a Place among the favored few. On one of these occasions, Keeler emphatically declared. he had attained the very finale of happiness, and when the Count had concluded one of his happiest renditions of "Jupiter in 'love with the Mermaid," Major McMillen pitched from his .chairs rolled en the floor, kicked up his heels and sang out, Judge James M. Coffinberry - 317 At length the minister calmly pulled off his coat and asked Spink to hold it stretched out in both hands between him and the women, which he did, and the minister quietly got into bed, covered up and left his legal companion to escape from the difficulty as he best might. Spink was sorely perplexed. He could not get the landlord to come and hold the coat for him, as he had already retired. To get in with his pantaloons on was out of the question as they were covered with mud and wet. Had each face been a pointed musket to be discharged the instant he should be divested of his lower garments, he could have been little more terrified. Finally, reflecting that, as a lawyer, he must be compelled to make his living by his wits, he determined to make then and there his "Maiden Speech" to the fair occupants of the floor, which he proceeded to do in about the following language. " Ladies, this is my bed, and I am without means of screening myself from your observation. This is my first introduction to new country life. Probably it is yours also, as you appear to be moving. 1 hope you will not impute to me rudeness, but I will esteem it a great favor if you will duck your heads while I get into bed," E=very face disappeared, while he retired. unharmed to meditate on his folly in having awakened the slumbering beauties by his speech. The following sketch of Judge Coffinberry is taken from a work entitled " Representative Men of Cleveland. " "James M. Coffinberry, son of Andrew, or the good " Count," is a native of Mansfield, Ohio, having been horn in that town in 1818. He studied law with his father, who was then located at Perrysburg, in the western part of the state, and upon his admission to the bar in 1841, opened. a law office in connection with his father in Maumee City. He very early obtained the public confidence, being appreciated for his high personal and professional integrity, and giving evidence of fine abilities as- a lawyer and advocate, he was elected and served as Prosecuting Attorney for Lucas county for several years. About the year 1845, he removed to Hancock county, and purchased and edited the Findlay Herald, a whig paper of that day, and for about ten years practiced his profession with credit and success in the large circuit of Hancock, Allen, Putnam, Van Wert and -Wood counties. "In 1855, he removed to Cleveland, where he entered very readily into a good practice, and for six years confirmed the good reputation Which he brought with him, and took high rank at the bar which numbered among its members some of the best lawyers in the State. 318 - Judge James M. Coffinberry. " In 1861, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, performed the duties of the office for his full term of five years, with credit to himself and to the eminent satisfaction of the public,  and an appreciative bar. The kind and genial traits, characteristic of Judge Coffinberry's mind, and his quiet manners upon the bench made it always agreeable for both lawyers and suitors doing business in his Court. His charges to the jury were always plain clear and forcible, and in the course of his judicial service, he delivered some very able opinions, verbal and written which elicited the favorable consideration of the profession, and it is understood that no judicial opinion pronounced by him has ever been reversed on review by a higher court.. The charge to the jury on the trial of Dr. John W. Hughes, for the murder of Tamzen Parsons, of Bedford, which took place in December, 1865, was acknowledged by the Cleveland bar to be one of the ablest ever delivered from the Cuyahoga bench. " Judge Coffinberry is remarkable for an apparently intuitive perception of legal truth, which gives to his argument at the bar, and as a lawyer and Judge, to his opinions, a tone of originality. He has a fine appreciation of the learning of the profession, and is regarded as among the best advocates of the Cleveland bar. "Judge Coffinberry has been successful in almost, every undertaking, and has richly deserved it. [Transcript from the docket of John Amstutz, of Richland Township Allen County.] State of Ohio vs Levi Tope Criminal action of an assault in a menacing manner, June 29, 1867. Levi Tope. This day appeared before me, John Amstutz, a Justice of the Peace of said county, Isaac N. Mark and made oath by an affidavit that Levi Tope assaulted and struck at him in a menacing manner. Therefore, the said Isaac N. Mark was the complainant, and said Levi Tope the defendant. A State warrant was therefore issued forthwith against said Levi Tope, defendant, and the same was delivered by said Isaac N. Mark, complainant. to William Lewis, regular Constable of Richland township, in said county. There was also a subpoena, on request of said complainant, issued for State witnesses against Joseph A. Murray, I. McHenry, Charles E. Wilson, George Burget, John Fenton, Thomas Murray, Ira Townsend, Erastus Thompson and George Ramer. All said witnesses were commanded to appear forthwith, July 1, 1857. The said Levi Tope, defendant, appeared before me, at about half past nine o'clock, and requested me to issue a subpoena against A. W. Rokatch, Ebenezer Russell, Sr., Wm. F. McDermott, Wm. Vance, Peter K. Mummer, Ralph Ewing, Samuel Whissler, John Fenton and Thomas Fenton. Said witnesses Odd Cases before the Courts - 319 were commanded to appear forthwith, and were intended by the defendant to defend him before the Justice's Court. Defendant likewise made a motion if I would want another Justice of the Peace assist me, in the proceedings of the action, that matter was therefore accepted by therefore issued a notice to George W. Goble, a J. P. in said township, of Richland. Complainant gave himself and Erastus Thompson bails on a bond, taken and acknowledged before me for the costs of the action if the State should fail. Past 3 o'clock same day, witnesses appeared. Said George W. Goble, my assistant, also appeared. Wm. Lewis, Constable, made his returns. I therefore made it known before we went into trial, to the complainant, and to all the presence, that I will have said Goble as my assistant, in every respect during the trial, stating the reasons such, that things appear to me to be ticklish, and dubious and critical ; that I would only have to bear half of the burdens, if I should go either way. It was therefore accepted by the complainant, and by the defendant, likewise before the presence, that said Goble may be my assistant during the action in every respect. The trial therefore began by asking Levi Tope, defendant, whether he was guilty or not guilty of the fact charged against him. He therefore pleaded " not guilty. " Therefore witnesses on behalf of' the State, were duly sworn. Also, I. N. Mark, complainant, was sworn. I. N. Mark, complainant, was the first witness to testify ; then George Burget, Charles E. Wilson, and Erastus Thompson. The balance were not called to testify. Then the witnesses for defendant were sworn. John Fenton, Wm. Vance and Peter K. Mummer and another testified. The balance were not called. After the testimony, allegation, examination and re-examination of the witnesses and proceedings on behalf of the State, and for the defendant, of the whole testimony, John Ewing, Esq., attorney of complainant, opened the pleading 'debate. Charles N. Lamison, Esq., pleaded for defendant, and Isaac N. Mark, complainant, closed the matter. After that, I, John Amstutz, and George W. Goble, my assistant, stepped off in a separate room, to consider on the matter, to render a judgment according to testimony. After the absence of about half an hour, we concluded that the complainant, like defendant, were alike, in our consideration, offence in fault. The complainant, we finded him to be in the offence of provoking defendant ; and the defended, we finded him to be in the offence of assaulting the complainant. Therefore, our pure judgment would be to discharge defendant, and each of them would have to pay his own costs, or the half of the whole costs, provided, if they are satisfied, and confess on it—that is to say, as the law gave us no power to give that kind of a composing judgment, what we considered to be the purest judgment according to our consideration. We therefore considered that we will offer our pure judgment to the parties. Therefore I offered 320 - Odd Cases before the Courts. the said judgment to the parties, and they would accept it, for the costs matter; but the complainant want. that the defendant shall confess that he did wrong, nevertheless the complainant confessed before the whole crowd, that he was sorry towards the defendant But defendant would not confess, and complainant would not with: draw his motion. Even I offered him to suffer loss of my whole fees. We therefore considered that we will discharge. the defendant and the complainant will have to pay the costs. . Therefore, in d! name of us both, I discharge the defendant, and complainant shall pay the costs of the whole action, and this was our final judgment and all what we could do according to law in this case.. But I, for my part, will never consider it a pure judgment according to the whole transactions and circumstances between the complainant and defendant, as both parties trespassed the civil action of reasonable men, and they ought to pay for it alike, as lessons. This transcript was given to the complainant on his request. His intention is to reverse the judgment of this action ; but the transcript itself will show that I. was trying to act in a way that might perhaps produce more than this course. As a matter of course, I want to be satisfied as soon as possible before I am required to issue execution ; and. that by the County Clerk, and under seal. I do not care about my fees. I said once that I would suffer my fees, and I say that yet, if I only can produce peace among my fellow-citizens. I therefore will not charge any fees to the complainant for this transcript; as he has already trouble enough. It shall be free gratis. Yours very respectfully, JOHN ARMSTUTZ. When Judge Hitchcock held his first term of the Supreme Court in Tiffin, Joshua Seney was Clerk of the Court. On the day fixed for the term, and when the Judge was expected, Mr. Keen and Mr. Seney were sitting in the Clerk's office; and the latter, looking out of the window, observed a rough looking person approaching the office, and, taking him for the same one who had been annoying Mr. Keen for the sale of a lot of hay, observed : " Now, as I am a sinner, if there isn't that same villainous old Irishman coming to torment us again about that hay." Soon the offensive person entered; the two occupants of the room continuing their, conversation, and neither suggesting a seat to the intruder, but expecting every moment to hear a re-opening from the Irishman of the pestiferous hay business. Mr. Seney became considerably embarrassed when the person approached his desk, and, very politely, but in the bearing and tone of voice of one clothed with authority, inquired : " Is the docket of the Supreme Court in this office ? I would like to see it." Notes on the Old Bench and Bar - 321 Although habited in very similar clothing, and bearing upon his head almost exact duplicate of the old straw hat worn by the Irishman, the stranger, it was now on closer scrutiny quite clear, was none other than Judge Hitchcock himself. The late Judge Metcalf would relate the following : Under the ancient regime in good old Virginia, the mother of States and of Lawyers, the fundamental law of that Commonwealth raised the senior justice of the peace of the county to the dignity of Sheriff. An old gentleman, who had passed through the several grades of justice and finally attained to the Sheriffalty, determined to cast his lot across the border, on Ohio soil, and engage in law practice. With this view, and under the impression that by virtue of the official experience above mentioned, he would be competent to discharge the duties of an attorney before any Ohio Court, he confidently demanded admission to the bar in the county he had selected for his residence. He was advised, however, that under the Ohio system, as in Virginia, it would be necessary that he enter his name with a lawyer and pursue a course of studies for a term of years, when he could obtain a certificate from his preceptor, which would form the basis for his application to the Court for admission to the bar. Accordingly he entered his name, but under the unshaken conviction that he possessed a better knowledge of law than the average of Ohio attorneys, he concluded that the only point with him was to put in the time, and that actual study was unnecessary. The two years having expired, he made application to the Court, and soon found himself before a Committee of the bar. A few questions relating to elementary of law were proposed to him, to none of which was he enabled to return satisfactory answers. The Virginian, finally, in much perplexity, observed: " I tell you what it is, gentlemen; I never did pretend to be much of a Blackstun lawyer, but you once take me on the Virginny statoots, and you'll find me than" He retired from the disgusting ordeal in high and dignified dudgeon. In 1857 a new Sheriff was inducted into office in Allen county. He was much inclined to waggery, and plumed himself upon his success in the practical jokes he would get off on his friends. Judge Robb, who habitually takes everything in good humor, and had been in several instances his victim, devised the following retaliatory scheme : - 21 - 322 - Notes on the Old Bench, and Bar. Seeking a conversation with the new officer, he informed him that it was the smallest number of Sheriffs who understood the true form of opening Court. "Now," said Robb, " while our Democrats may not like the English government and people altogether, it must nevertheless be admitted that we are indebted to our British ancestry for the fundamental principles of our admirable system of jurisprudence. The more closely we adhere to their venerated forms, the more imposing and sublime appears the administration of justice." The Sheriff concurred in this view, and the Judge then proceeded to drill the officer as to the true method of opening Court —and having learned to " speak his piece," Judge Metcalf and the bar and spectators were electrified next morning to hear the new Sheriff proclaim, in stentorian voice, in response to the order to open Court: " Oh yes ! oh yes ! ! oh yes!!! All manner of persons having anything to do with this Court of nisi pries, held in this county of Allen, will draw near and give attention. God save the Queen!" At the April term, in 1847, of the Mercer county Court, a hog case was tried before Judge Patrick G. Goode. The arguments of counsel had been concluded, the charge of the Court had been made, and the case submitted to the jury within a few minutes of the regular dinner hour, and they ordered into their room. The Court then adjourned until after dinner. Within a few minutes one of the jurymen, Cyrenius Elliott, (then a rough-hewn specimen, but withal a young man possessing more than average ability and coolness,) entered the room of the hotel where the Judge was seated. The latter regarded Elliott with much surprise, and excitedly inquired: " What are you doing here ? Have the jury agreed ? "Jury agreed ?" hissed Elliott ; "you must be a simpleton to ask the question. You must understand, Pat Goode, that I don't believe much in the divine right of Kings, or in the infallibility of Courts, when run by such men as yourself. Your right way was to have let us had our dinners before sending us into the jury-room—knowing, as you must, if you had good sense, that jurors have stomachs and bowels as well as judges and lawyers." The Judge, in a towering rage, threatened that his first business, immediately after the re-assembling of the Court, would be to visit Notes on the Old Bench, and Bar - 323 upon Elliott the severest penalties of the law ; to which the juryman, with much sang froid responded, that it was not necessary for him to wait until after the meeting of the Court to make a more flagrant Muggins of himself than he had already shown himself to be. Upon re-opening Court, however, the Judge, reflecting that the law was inadequate to punish, as he thought they deserved, the recusant jurors, made the disposition of the case as explained below in the Mercer County Standard : " Abraham Miller, of this place, happened to be one of the famous twelve, and when the Court had re-assembled in the afternoon, the Judge, after censuring those of the jurymen who had appeared in the Court room, for their conduct, and after some hesitation as to what disposition to make of the case, ordered it to be recorded, which closed as follows : and the jury not being able to agree, dispersed ; and the case was continued to the next term. The next term of court ordered "that the defendant go hence without day," and so the Matter has slept until the last term of Court, when Mr. Miller was ushered into the jury box by the Sheriff, whereupon Mr. LeBlond who was attorney for the defendant in the case in 1847, objected to him on the ground that a man couldn't serve as a juryman on two cases at the same time. Judge Mackenzie intimated that a man who was unable to make up his mind in twenty-four years was hardly competent to sit on a jury ; however, he was permitted to remain till the final disposition of the case; but the fact still remains that the jury which went out in 1847, has never returned into court." And at this point, in these random notes, as illustrative, in some degree, of the judicial practice in primitive times, we cross the Ohio border into the Indiana portion of the Maumee Valley, and relate the following on the authority of Judge John Morris, now of Fort; Wayne—authority that may be accepted as unquestionable : Arial Walden, a most excellent man, noted for his intense veneration of Henry Clay, was among the first settlers of DeKalb county. His education was limited, but he 'could read, and had read everything within his reach that in any way related to Clay. To him Clay was in fact the great embodiment, not alone of Whig principles, but of the Constitution and everything valuable in our institutions. Walden had memorized many of Clay's speeches, which had inspired him with a deep reverence for the Constitution. He read and re-read the sacred instrument, and always, as he declared, with increasing interest and devotion. He regarded the expunging resolutions and the 824 - Notes on the Old Bench, and Bar drawing of the black lines across the Senate journal as a wanton and outrageous violation of the Constitution. The pet banks of Jackson and the sub-treasury system of Van Buren, he looked upon as menacing the very existence of our free institutions. If his best and most cherished friend spoke lightly or irreverently of the Con. stitution, he dropped him at once, regarding him as the enemy of his country, and but little better than Jackson, Calhoun or Ben ton. Walden was, nevertheless, a kind-hearted, amiable man, and generally tolerant of the opinions of others. He would listen patiently to any criticism of his views upon religion or any other subject, save that of Clay and the Constitution. Upon these two subjects there was no room for debate. The Constitution was just what Clay said it was; the expunging resolutions, the pet banks, the sub-treasury were clear violations of it. Jackson, Calhoun and Benton and their associates were traitors. His devotion to Clay was looked upon as a sort of infatuation, and did not at all affect his popularity among his neighbors, though they were generally opposed to Clay. Filially, Walden was taken up by the people of the county and elected to the office of Associate Judge. He was an honest and zealous, if not a remarkably intelligent Judge. Lawyers soon found out that with Walden on the bench, the Constitution was the " supreme law of the land," and that he who could appeal to it, was sure to win. In 1840, there was, among a half dozen causes pending in DeKalb county, a slander suit which attracted unusual interest. The presiding Judge, who was always a lawyer, had gone home ; the associate Judges, (two of them.) who were not lawyers, were holding the Court. The slander suit came on for trial. One of the best lawyers of the State appeared as counsel for the plaintiff, and Messrs. Coombs and Colerick, of Fort Wayne, for the defendant. The plaintiff's case was clearly made out, and the defence, so far as the evidence was concerned, was a complete failure. The counsel for the plaintiff expected a verdict for a reasonable amount of damages at least. But his client was personally unpopular, and, as sometimes happens, especially in a new country, the jury, without regard to the evidence, found for the defendant. All were surprised, and none more so than the defendant and his counsel. Mr. H. ____counsel for the plaintiff, as soon as the verdict was read, moved the court for a new trial. He demonstrated the injus-