History of Porter County, 1912County history published by The Lewis Publishing Company . . . .
Source Citation:
The Lewis Publishing Company. 1912.
History of Porter County, Indiana: A
Narrative Account of its Historical Progress, its People and its Principal
Interests.
Volume I. Chicago, Illinois: The Lewis Publishing Company. 357 p.
HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
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CHAPTER XI
THE PROFESSIONS
HARDSHIPS OF THE PIONEER DOCTOR -
EARLY PHYSICIANS - PERSONAL SKETCHES OF NOTED PHYSICIANS - LIST OF DOCTORS IN
1912 - PORTER COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY - KANKAKEE VALLEY MEDICAL SOCIETY -
HOSPITAL - SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC OF 1899 - JUDICIAL SYSTEM - FIRST JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
- PROBATE COURT - COURT OF COMMON PLEAS - SUPERIOR COURT - CITY COURT OF
VALPARAISO - LIST OF JUDGES - PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS - EARLY LAWYERS - PORTER
COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION - LIST OF LAWYERS IN 1912 - ANECDOTE OF D. D. PRATT - ART
- LITERATURE - JOURNALISM - PERSONAL SKETCHES OF AUTHORS, POETS AND JOURNALISTS
In the settlement of a new country, the doctor is usually the first professional
man to appear upon the scene. Realizing the fact that conditions upon the
frontier are not always conducive to health, and that the sparse population
there is far away from centers of civilization whence medical aid can be
obtained, the pioneer physician often makes sacrifices to serve his fellow men
and aid them in heroic efforts to extend the margin of civilization into
hitherto unknown lands. True, he is actuated by motives of private gain, to some
extent at least, but when the lot of the country doctor in a new settlement is
considered in all its aspects, it is anything but inviting. Settlers are
scattered over a large extent of territory; roads are bad, and frequently there
are no roads at all; drugs and medicines are hard to obtain; money is scarce;
calls must be answered, day or night, rain or shine, if the doctor is to
maintain his
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prestige in the community, and even then they come but seldom, owing to the
sparseness of the population. For years he may struggle along, living a sort of
hand-to-mouth existence, waiting for other settlers to come in before his
practice can be really established upon a paying basis. Notwithstanding all
this, the physician is always to be found among the pioneers.
One of the first physicians to locate in Porter county was Dr. Seneca Ball. He
was born in Warren county, Ohio, August 18, 1798; received his preliminary
education in the little log school home of that day; attended a graded school at
Waynesville, Ohio, and then began the study of medicine by himself. Later he
read under Dr. William Bunnell, at Washington, Indiana, and then began practice.
After following his profession for a short time he engaged in merchandising at
Lafayette with his brother, and later at Laporte. Late in the year 1836 he came
to Valparaiso and shortly after that date resumed his practice, which he
followed until old age compelled him to desist. He also served as justice of the
peace, probate judge, and representative in the state legislature. His death
occurred on October 4, 1875.
Dr. Cornelius Blachly came to Porter county in 1838 and continued to practice
medicine in the county for more than forty years. He bought the old Gosset Mill
in Liberty township in 1869, which his sons continued to run for years after his
death in 1876. Dr. Blachly was one of the best known physicians in the county in
his day.
In 1844 Dr. Luther Atkins came to Porter county, though at that time he had not
yet received his diploma to practice medicine. He was born in Massachusetts in
August, 1819. Subsequently his parents removed to Ashtabula county, Ohio, where
he acquired his general education, and after coming to Porter county he began
the study of medicine. He began practice in 1847, but did not graduate from any
college until 1866, when he received the degree of M. D. from a school in
Philadelphia. In 1880 he located at Kouts where he opened a drug store which he
conducted in connection with his practice until his death.
One of the well known pioneer doctors of Porter county was Levi A.
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Cass, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, July 9, 1819. At the age of fourteen
years he entered Oberlin College, where he studied for some time and then read
medicine with his father, Levi A. Cass, Sr. In 1840 he came to Porter county and
commenced the practice of his profession, but after a short time went to Laporte,
where he completed his professional education under Dr. Meaker. He represented
Porter county in the state legislature, was one of the organizers of the First
National Bank at Valparaiso, and was otherwise identified with the affairs of
the county.
Among the early physicians in the southern part of the county, probably none is
so well remembered as Dr. John K. Blackstone, who practiced medicine at Hebron
for half a century. He was born in Ohio in 1817; attended the Ohio State
University; served as second lieutenant in the Second Ohio infantry in the
Mexican war; then read medicine and graduated at Cleveland Medical College in
1848. Shortly after that he located at Hebron, where he continued to practice
his profession until his death on January 28, 1898. Dr. Blackstone was an
archaeologist of some ability, and at one time had in possession an interesting
collection of Indian and mound-builders' relics.
Another early Porter county physician was Dr. Erasmus J. Jones, who was born in
Ohio in 1814. In 1840 he entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and in 1846 began practice with his brother-in-law, Dr. J. G.
Kyle, in Ohio. In 1851 he started for Iowa, but upon reaching Porter county some
of the members of his family became ill and he stopped in the "Gosset
Settlement," where he remained until 1859. He then removed to Chesterton and
practiced there and at Porter until his death. He was also engaged in the drug
business for a while at Chesterton. Dr. Jones served as county clerk for two
terms.
In 1853 Dr. J. H. Letherman located in Valparaiso. He was a native of
Pennsylvania, where he was born in March, 1819; studied under his father;
attended the Jefferson College for four years, and graduated in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1844. He began practice in
Pennsylvania, but soon removed to Des Moines, Iowa, and practiced there until
November, 1853, when he came to Valparaiso
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as above stated. In 1871 he admitted to partnership his son, Dr. Andrew P.
Letherman, who is still practicing in Valparaiso. Dr. J. H. Letherman served for
twelve years as county coroner. He died on March 22, 1886.
On June 12, 1812, Dr. J. M. Goodwin was born in Tompkins county, New York, where
his ancestors were among the pioneers, his grandfather having served as a
commissary in the Continental army during the Revolutionary war. In 1836 he
graduated at the Geneva Medical College; practiced in New York and Illinois
until 1856, when he located in Porter county. Here he remained until his death,
and during the Civil war he gave his professional services free to members of
soldiers' families. He served as justice of the peace for many years in Pine
township, where he resided.
Dr. Hiram Green, who in his day was one of the prominent physicians of
Chesterton, was born on July 19, 1829, in Oneida county, New York. In 1835 his
parents removed to Ohio and at the age of twelve years Hiram entered a normal
school, having saved twenty-eight dollars as the result of four months' work to
pay his expenses. Two years later he began the study of medicine with his
brother at New Lisbon, Ohio. At the age of twenty he went to Birmingham -
opposite Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - where a cholera epidemic was raging, and was
fortunate enough to succeed to the practice of a physician who was compelled to
leave the town. From that time until the discovery of gold in California he
practiced in various places. A company bound for the gold fields offered him
inducements to join the movement as a physician and he started for the Pacific
coast. At Michigan City, Indiana, he fell ill and did not fully regain his
health for two years. After practicing for four years at Gosset's Mill, he
located at Chesterton. During the Civil war he served as lieutenant, captain and
assistant surgeon. He then practiced at Wheeler for about three years, when he
returned to Chesterton and opened a drug store, continuing the practice of
medicine in connection with the drug business. He served as trustee of
Westchester township; was a member of the board of pension examiners, and was a
Knight
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Templar Mason. He died at Chesterton on January 5, 1901. As a mark of respect
the public schools were dismissed at noon and the business houses were closed
from noon until four o'clock on the day of the funeral.
When Dr. Hayes C. Coates located at Valparaiso in 1866 he was forty years of
age, having been born in Marlboro, Ohio, June 8, 1826. He began the study of
medicine at an early age, attended the American Medical College at Cincinnati,
Ohio. and during the Civil war was a contract surgeon under the United States
government at Cleveland, Ohio. In 1864 he graduated at the Western Reserve
Medical College, of Cleveland, and two years later came to Valparaiso, where he
remained in active practice until a short time before his death on October 6,
1894. For a number of years he was the resident surgeon for the Pittsburgh, Fort
Wayne & Chicago Railroad Company, and he also served as county physician.
Dr. Henry M. Beer, son of Rev. Thomas Beer, was born in Wayne county, Ohio,
March 20, 1838. He received an academic education and upon attaining his
majority began the study of medicine under Dr. P. H. Clark. During the Civil war
he served as assistant surgeon in the Twenty-third Ohio infantry. After the
close of the war he practiced in Maryland and Ohio, meantime attending medical
college at Cleveland, where he was graduated in 1868. Immediately upon receiving
his degree, Dr. Beer came to Valparaiso, and from that time until the spring of
1903 was never absent from his practice for more than a day or two at a time. On
May 17, 1903, he went to Chicago, where he had a surgical operation performed,
and died on the 26th.
Dr. W. C. Paramore was born at Barlestone, Leicestershire, England, April 14,
1809. He was educated in his native country and practiced there before coming to
America. In the spring of 1855 he came to Porter county and continued in
practice there until his death on March 15, 1882. Two years before he came to
the county, Dr. Henry J. Ellis located at Wheeler. After many years of
successful practice he died in 1886. Dr. Marr and Dr. Moricle were among the
pioneer doctors in the northern part of the county. The former brought on a
partial paralysis by riding
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in a gig while visiting his patients, and the latter gave up his practice to
engage in the real estate business, which he followed for several years prior to
his death.
Dr. L'Mander Lewis, the son of a Revolutionary soldier who fought with Ethan
Allen at Ticonderoga, came to Porter county in 1849. He had previously studied
medicine at Cincinnati, Ohio, and had been associated with General William Henry
Harrison in bringing the Ohio valley under the influence of civilization. He
married Mary Dodge in Hamilton county, Ohio, May 29, 1823, and after coming to
Porter county continued to practice his profession until a short time before his
death, which occurred on September 3, 1880.
The first homeopathic physician to locate in the county was probably Dr.
Kendall. Dr. M. F. Sayles studied under him in 1864, and afterward attended the
Hahnemann Medical College at Chicago. Dr. Sayles later located in Hebron, where
he practiced until 1876, when he removed to Valparaiso and there resided until
his death. Dr. W. O. Catron was another early homeopathic physician. At the
present time there are but two known physicians of that school in the county -
Dr. George R. Douglas, of Valparaiso, and Dr. E. A. Edmunds, of Hebron.
Other early or eminent physicians who were engaged in practice in Porter county
at some period of her history, were Drs. Robbins, Kersey, Salisbury and
Hankinson, who came so far back and who have been dead so long that little can
be learned regarding them; Dr. J. V. Herriott, a Pennsylvanian, first president
of the county medical society, who was paralyzed for about two years before his
death; R. A. Cameron and J. F. McCarthy, who were also well known as soldiers
and newspaper men; W. A. Yohn, a veteran practitioner of Hebron; Dr. Orpheus
Everts, who was at one time superintendent of the Indiana asylum for the insane
at Indianapolis; Dr. George H. Riley, associated with Dr. Green at Chesterton;
Dr. George W. Arnold, who located at Wheeler in 1871; and Dr. Oliver S. Wood, a
native of Lake county, who practiced for several years at Hebron.
The names of twenty-five physicians appear in the last issue of the
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county directory, to wit: Valparaiso - R. D. Blount, J. C. Carson, H. E.
Gowland, G. R. Douglas, A. P. Letherman, L. E. Lewis, D. J. Loring, F. W.
Mitchell, O. B. Nesbit, J. A. Ryan, G. H. Stoner, J. B. Take, E. H. Powell, S.
J. Young; Chesterton - Ross H. Axe, Joseph von Osinski, C. O. Wiltfong;
Hebron - C. E. Ferree, E. A. Edmunds, E. G. Rawson, J. R. Wilson, R. P.
Blood; Kouts - P. D. Nowland, C. P. Hockett; Porter - J. J.
Theorell; Wheeler - A. O. Dobbins.
The Porter County Medical Society was organized on June 27, 1883, with thirteen
charter members and the following officers: Dr. J. V. Herriott, president; Dr.
J. F. McCarthy, vice-president; Dr. D. J. Loring, secretary; Dr. J. H.
Letherman, treasurer; Drs. A. P. Letherman, W. A. Yohn and J. C. Carson,
censors. A constitution was adopted at that meeting, in which it was declared
that the society should be "auxiliary to and under the control of the Indiana
State Medical Society." The constitution also set forth that "The objects of
this society shall be the advancement of medical knowledge; the elevation of
professional character; the protection of the interest of its members; the
extension of the bounds of medical science; the promotion of all means adopted
for the relief of the suffering; to improve the health and protect the lives of
the community."
At one time in its history the Porter County Medical Society had a permanent
home in the shape of club rooms, which were always open, the object being to
enable the doctors of the county to become better acquainted in a social as well
as a professional way. Any regular physician of good moral character and
professional standing residing in the county was eligible for membership upon
payment of a fee of two dollars, but even on these liberal terms, quite a number
of physicians in the county have never joined the society. In 1912 there were
but fifteen active members. The officers at that time were; Dr. O. B. Nesbit,
president; Dr. A. P. Letherman, vice-president; Dr. H. E. Gowland, secretary and
treasurer; Drs. D. J. Loring, J. C. Carson and R. D. Blount, censors. The
regular meetings of the society are held upon the first Monday in each month,
when papers relating to some phase of medical practice are read
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and discussed, cases in actual practice of the members reviewed, and other
features of the program all tend to increase the knowledge and elevate the
character of the physicians of the county.
On April 2, 1901, the Kankakee Valley Medical Society held one of its regular
meetings in Valparaiso, where the members were entertained by the resident
physicians. This society is composed of the leading physicians of Cass, Fulton,
Marshall, St. Joseph, Laporte, Lake, Porter, Jasper, Newton, White and Carroll
counties.
Prior to 1891 Porter county had no hospital of any kind for the treatment of
sojourners or persons who could not be properly treated at their homes. In that
year Dr. D. J. Loring opened a private hospital or sanitarium on East Jefferson
street, Valparaiso, with accommodations for twelve patients. While Dr. Loring
expected to receive some financial benefit from the establishment of this
institution, he was actuated by the knowledge that there was need of such a
hospital to relieve human suffering. In 1905 the Indiana legislature passed an
act which made liberal provisions for the erection and maintenance of a public
hospital in each county of the state. On July 17, 1905, a meeting was held in
the council chamber at Valparaiso for the purpose of forming a hospital
association. William E. Pinney was elected president, and Dr. H. M. Evans,
secretary. A committee was also appointed at the same time to report a plan of
action. This committee consisted of O. P. Kinsey, Dr. R. D. Blount, George Dodge
and Rev. L. W. Applegate.
About this time, and before the association had taken any definite steps for the
founding of a hospital, the Christian church at Valparaiso became interested in
the subject. Dr. Simon J. Young went to St. Louis to secure, if possible, the
cooperation of the National Benevolent Association of that denomination. The
result was that an agent of the association, J. P. Davis, was sent to Valparaiso
to look over the field. He made a favorable report and Dr. Young again went to
St. Louis, this time with a proposition to purchase the private hospital of Dr.
Loring, which was for sale. F. R. Ayres and George L. Snively, two
representatives of the association came to Valparaiso in December, 1906, and
reported in favor
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of the purchase. The property was valued at $13,000, of which the church at
Valparaiso assumed the payment of one-half and the central board the other half.
In this way the Christian Hospital and Training School for Nurses was called
into existence. Since the institution passed into the hands of the church a
number of new beds have been added. In 1912 the officers of the hospital
association were as follows: H. B. Brown, president; Dr. S. J. Young,
vice-president; E. W. Agar, secretary; N. R. McNeice, treasurer; John E.
Roessier, manager; Mrs. Nora Woodruff, superintendent.
An instance of the efficiency of the Porter county medical profession was seen
in the smallpox epidemic of 1899. On March 28, of that year, a man named Cooper
came to Valparaiso as a student in the Valparaiso University. On April 10th he
developed a well defined case of smallpox. Other students contracted the disease
and went to their homes, thus spreading the infection before the true nature of
the original case was fully determined. The college authorities established a
temporary hospital, in which some twenty cases were treated as chicken pox, the
disease appearing only in a mild form. Newspapers outside the county created
some excitement by the publication of sensational articles, some of them
clamoring for a general quarantine against the city. About June 1, 1899,
smallpox made its appearance at several points in northern and central Indiana,
and it was claimed that many of these cases were traceable to Valparaiso. On
June 22nd Dr. A. W. Brayton, of Indianapolis, came to Valparaiso as a
representative of the state board of health to investigate the situation. County
and city boards of health had been established some time before this, and Dr.
Brayton found their secretaries - Dr. A. P. Letherman and Dr. H. M. Beer - ready
and willing to assist him in every possible way to get at the truth. Several
persons were found to be afflicted with smallpox and the three physicians
selected a house at the corner of Union and Morgan streets to be used as a
temporary detention hospital. To this house, which became known as the "pink
home," seven patients were taken on the 23d and placed under
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quarantine. On the 24th the board of health issued "Health Order No. . 1, which
was as follows:
"We are commanded by the State Board of Health, today to order every citizen of
Valparaiso vaccinated. Otherwise our city will be quarantined by the State Board
of Health. This order must be strictly complied with within the next twenty-four
hours."
The order was signed by A. E. Woodhull, mayor; Dr. A. P. Letherman, secretary of
the county board of health; and Dr. H. M. Beer, secretary of the city board of
health. Dr. J. N. Hurty, secretary of the state hard of health, upon receiving
the report of Dr. Brayton, sent word to the local boards of health to make a
house to house canvass and to remove "all suspected persons to a special
eruptive disease hospital, which must be well removed from the center of
population." Dr. Hurty also ordered the thorough disinfection of all houses in
which such persons should be found. These orders were complied with promptly,
and as an aid to the board of health the mayor issued an order to the effect
that failure to report cases of infectious diseases meant "prosecution to the
fullest extent of the law." On June 29th the city council adopted a resolution
"That in case of the prevalence or occurrence of any contagious or infectious
disease in the limits of the city, the mayor of the city shall have the
authority, if he sees fit, to lease, occupy or take possession of any proper
building for the purpose of separating persons afflicted with such disease, and
shall have the right to remove, or cause to be removed, such afflicted persons
to such building, provided the mayor act in such matter in conjunction and
harmony with the City Board of Health."
Every physician in the city and county manifested a disposition to cooperate
with the boards of health and the civil authorities in carrying out all orders
issued. Cases were promptly reported, many persons were vaccinated free of
charge where they had not money, and in this way the epidemic was soon stamped
out.
A history of the Bench and Bar of Porter county could not differ materially from
that of any other similar county in the state. The state
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constitution adopted in 1816 provided (Article V, Section I), that "The
judiciary power of this state, both as to matters of law and equity, shall be
vested in one supreme court, in circuit courts, and in such other inferior
courts as the general assembly may from time to time direct and establish."
This provision remained a part of the organic law of the state until the
adoption of the constitution of 1851, and under it the first courts in Porter
county were established. At the time of the adoption of that constitution
provision was made for the division of the state into three circuits, in each of
which should be established a circuit court consisting of a presiding judge and
two associate judges, elected for a term of seven years. By the act of February
10, 1831, the first judicial circuit was made to consist of the Counties of
Vermillion, Parke, Montgomery, Fountain, Warren, Tippecanoe, Clinton, Carroll,
Cass and St. Joseph. All the territory north and west of this circuit had not
then been organized into counties, and the court of the first circuit was given
jurisdiction over the unorganized territory, which included the present county
of Porter.
When the county was organized it was attached to the eighth district for
judicial purposes, but on February 19, 1838, the governor approved an act
dividing the state into a larger number of judicial districts, such legislation
having become necessary on account of the rapidly growing population. By this
act the Ninth district was composed of the counties of Fulton, Marshall,
Kosciusko, Elkhart, St. Joseph, Laporte, Porter and Lake. In Porter county, the
terms of court were to begin on "the second Monday after the commencement of the
regular terms in Laporte county," the act fixing the time of such commencement
in Laporte county as "the fourth Monday in April and the third Monday in October
of each year." The legislature of 1838 also provided for the establishment of a
probate court in each county of the state, but the office of probate judge was
abolished by the constitution of 1851, which also did away with three judges in
each circuit court and placed the court in
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the hands of one judge, though the state was divided into a larger number of
judicial districts.
Under a constitutional provision that the legislature should have power to
establish inferior courts, the courts of common pleas were created by the act of
May 14, 1852, the counties of Laporte, Porter and Lake being designated as a
common pleas district. The court of common pleas was given jurisdiction in
matters of probate, against heirs, devisees and sureties, and was practically a
continuation of the old county pro- bate court, established in 1838, though with
rather more extended jurisdiction, which applied to a district instead of to a
single county. The court of common pleas was abolished in 1872 and the
jurisdiction formerly exercised by it was transferred to the circuit and
superior courts of the state. Since that time the counties of Lake and Porter
have constituted the circuit which is now known as the Thirty-first judicial
district. Terms of five weeks in each county are held, except for ten weeks in
the warm weather each summer.
The legislature of 1893 established a superior court, including the counties of
Porter and Laporte, and Governor Matthews appointed John E. Cass, of Valparaiso,
the first judge. The superior court holds terms of five weeks in each county,
those in Porter county alternating with the terms of the circuit court, with a
ten weeks vacation in the summer months. The superior and circuit courts have
concurrent jurisdiction in all causes, both civil and criminal.
A city court was established in Valparaiso about 1896, with F. B. Parks as city
judge. The jurisdiction of this court was about the same as that of a justice of
the peace and the cases tried before the city judge were confined chiefly to
violations of the city ordinances. In 1905 the office of city judge was
abolished, mayors in cities of the fifth class being at that time made judicial
officers. Since then the duties of city judge in Valparaiso have devolved upon
the mayor.
The judges of the circuit court prior to 1872, in the order of their service,
were: Samuel Sample, of South Bend; E. M. Chamberlin, of Goshen; Robert Lowry,
of Goshen; Thomas Stanfield, of South Bend;
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Andrew Osborn, of Laporte; Hiram A. Gillett, of Valparaiso. Judge Gillett
continued on the bench until 1878, when he was succeeded by Elisha C. Field.
Judge Field was succeeded by William Johnston in 1890, who served until 1892,
when John H. Gillett was elected. In 1898 Judge Gillett was appointed by
Governor Durbin to a place on the Indiana supreme bench, to fill the vacancy
caused by the resignation of Judge Francis E. Baker, and at the same time
appointed Willis C. McMahan to the position of circuit judge to fill out the
unexpired term or Judge Gillett. Judge McMahan was elected to the office in 1902
and reelected in 1908.
The judges of the probate court of Porter county while the court was in
existence were Jesse Johnston, Seneca Ball, George W. Turner, Nathaniel
Campbell, William Talcott and John Jones, the last named having been appointed
upon the resignation of Judge Talcott.
During the twenty years that the court of common pleas was in existence the
district of which Porter county was a part had but three judges, viz: H. Lawson,
William C. Talcott and Hiram A. Gillett.
Mention has been made of the appointment of John E. Cass as judge of the
superior court when that tribunal was established in 1893. He was succeeded in
1896 by Harry B. Tuthill, who has been reelected at each succeeding election up
to 1908.
Michael Esseck was prosecuting attorney of the circuit composed of Lake and
Porter counties at the time the court of common pleas was abolished in 1872.
Since that time the prosecuting attorneys, with the year in which each was
elected, have been as follows: Thomas J. Wood, 1872; J. W. Youche, 1876; J. G.
Smith, 1880; Charles F. Griffin, 1882; Edgar D. Crumpacker, 1884; Charles N.
Morton, 1888; Willis C. McMahan, 1890; Thomas H. Heard, 1894; Stanley T. Sutton,
1898; William J. McAleer, 1900; David E. Boone, 1904; Charles E. Greenwald,
1908, reelected in 1910.
In a new country where the population is sparse, there is not much litigation
and the practice of law is a rather precarious calling. Several years must
elapse before a sufficient number of cases will be filed in the
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courts to justify the establishment of a local bar of any considerable
proportions. When Porter county was organized and the Ninth judicial district
established, that district was composed of eight counties. The leading attorneys
of those counties frequently rode on horseback from one county seat to another,
carrying their law library in their old-fashioned saddle-bags. Among those
traveling lawyers of that day were Joseph L. Jernegan, John B. Niles, Robert
Merrifield, W. C. Hanna, Joseph W. Chapman, John H. and James Bradley. It is
generally con ceded that Josiah S. Masters, who came from the state of New York
about the time the county was organized, was the first resident lawyer of Porter
county. Not finding sufficient practice to occupy his time, he engaged in
teaching school, having taught the first school in Portersville (now
Valparaiso), and in fact never did much business in the law. Harlowe S. Orton
came to Valparaiso early in 1839 and was one of the most prominent and best
known of the early attorneys. Later he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where he
became president of the law department of the University of Wisconsin. Not far
behind Mr. Orton came Samuel I. Anthony, who was admitted to practice in Porter
county in October, 1839. He was for many years one of the leading lawyers of the
county and served in both branches of the state legislature. Jesse Johnston, who
came to the county among the first settlers, was elected justice of the peace in
1836, but declined the office. He was probate judge from 1838 to 1840, and his
son, William Johnston, is still practicing law in Valparaiso. George W. Turner,
the first clerk of the court, entered upon the practice of law about 1845 and
continued in the profession until he left the county in 1856. Mark L. De Motte
and Thomas J. Merrifield located in Valparaiso in 1855.
Mark L. De Motte, one of the best known attorneys of Porter county, was born
near Rockville, Parke county, Indiana, December 28, 1832, a son of Rev. Daniel
De Motte, a noted circuit rider in his day. He was graduated at Asbury (now De
Pauw) University at Greencastle, Indiana, with the degree of A. B. in 1853, and
two years later received from the same institution the degree of L. L. B. It was
in that year he began
253
practice in Valparaiso, and from that time until his death was closely
identified with the Porter county bar. During the Civil war he served as senior
first lieutenant of the Fourth Indiana battery and as assistant quartermaster
with the rank of captain. After the war he went to Lexington, Missouri, where he
became the owner and editor of the Lexington Register, and was a delegate
to the Republican national conventions of 1868 and 1876. In 1877 he returned to
Valparaiso and three years later was one of the founders of the law department
of the Valparaiso University. He was elected to Congress in 1880; was defeated
for reelection in 1882; was elected to the state senate in 1886; and served as
postmaster at Valparaiso during the administration of President Harrison. He
died at his home in Valparaiso, September 28, 1908.
Judge Hiram A. Gillett was born near Richmond, Vermont, March 19, 1831. After
graduating at the Burlington (Vt.) University in 1853, he went to Buffalo, New
York, where he studied law, and in 1856 was admitted to the bar. In 1861 he came
to Valparaiso. He was elected judge of the common court until it was abolished,
when Governor Hendricks appointed him judge of the circuit court for the circuit
com- posed of Lake, Porter and Starke counties, which office he held for six
years. He then practiced law in Valparaiso until a short time before his death
on December 16, 1903. His son, John H. Gillett, also served for several years as
judge of the circuit court.
Other attorneys who located in Porter county prior to the Civil war were M. M.
Fassett, John W. Murphy and C. I. Thompson. After the war the profession was
well represented by Thomas J. Merrifield, J. M. Howard, Thomas McLoughlin, John
E. Cass, W. H. Calkins, J. H. Skinner, Nathan L. Agnew, A. L. Jones and others,
most of whom have died or removed to other fields of labor.
A. Lytle Jones was one of the first members of the Porter county bar to study
law in the county. He was born in Wayne county, Ohio, in August, 1835, and came
with his parents to Porter county in 1847, settling on Horse prairie. In 1855 he
graduated at the Indiana State University, then studied law with Samuel I.
Anthony, and in 1856 was ad-
254
mitted to practice. For several years he was the senior member of the law firm
of Jones, De Motte & Jones. During the war he served in the Seventh Indiana
cavalry. He was a member of Chaplain Brown Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and
was connected with the Northern Indiana Law School. He died at Valparaiso, March
17, 1902.
On Friday, December 21, 1906, a number of members of the Porter county bar met
in the library room of the court-house for the purpose of organizing a bar
association. The meeting was called to order by H. H. Loring. Nathan L. Agnew
was chosen chairman, and Mark B. Rockwell was elected secretary. After some
discussion H. H. Loring, E. W. Agar and R. J. Kitchen were appointed a committee
to draft a constitution and by-laws, which were to be reported at another
meeting on December 26th. At the adjourned meeting on that date the constitution
and by-laws were adopted and the following officers elected: H. H. Loring,
president; Grant Crumpacker, vice-president; Mark B. Rockwell, secretary; A. D.
Bartholomew, treasurer. The association started off with every indication of
success, but when an effort was made to adopt a certain schedule of fees for
certain legal services, some of the lawyers asserted that they were capable of
judging what their services were worth and withdrew their support from the
organization. The last meeting, of which any record can be found, was held on
January 11, 1908, when the same officers were reelected, with the exception of
vice-president, R. J. Kitchen taking the place of Grant Crumpacker. After the
election of officers, the members of the association and the invited guests
adjourned to the El Erding Cafe, where a banquet was served and Nathan L. Agnew
read a paper upon "The Ethics of the Legal Profession." Sixteen persons were
present at the banquet.
Bumstead's last county directory gives the names of twenty-three lawyers who
reside in the county, eighteen of them being located in Valparaiso. They are E.
W. .Agar, A. D. and J. S. Bartholomew, N. J. and William Bozarth, Grant
Crumpacker, William Daly, William H. Dowdell, Thomas H. Heard, Daniel E. Kelly,
H. H. Loring, E. O. Main, E. G. Osborne, F. B. Parks, William E. Pinney, Mark B.
Rockwell, Benjamin C. Stockman, and H. J. Schenck.
The three lawyers of Chesterton were George F. Batteiger, C. W. Jensen and G. R.
Williams, and in Hebron are George C. Gregg and D. B. Fickle. Although the name
of Edgar D. Crumpacker does not appear on the list of lawyers as given in the
directory - probably for the reason that he lives most of the time in
Washington, D. C., as the representative of the Tenth Congressional district -
he still claims his permanent residence in the city of Valparaiso.
One of the lawyers who practiced in northern Indiana prior to the Civil war was
Daniel D. Pratt, of Logansport, who was at one time United States senator from
Indiana. A short time before his death he told Rev. Robert Beer the following
story of a visit he made to Valparaiso on one occasion. The story is repeated
here because it shows something of the conditions that existed in the town at
the time the incident occurred. Mr. Pratt was the secretary of the Republican
national convention which nominated Mr. Lincoln for the presidency at Chicago in
1860. At the close of the convention he came to Valparaiso, where he was one of
the counsel in a case involving the Indian title to a certain tract of land. He
stopped at the old Gould House on West Main street, and being rather tired
retired at a comparatively early hour. Directly opposite the hotel was a
grocery, along the side of which were piled a number of barrels of salt. The
salt attracted a herd of cows, several of which wore bells, and the noise they
made prevented Mr. Pratt from going to sleep. Time passed by until all was still
in the little city except the nerve-racking noise of those bells. Unable to
sleep, the distinguished lawyer raised his window and tried to scare the cows
away. His efforts in this direction were futile, but he was determined to get
rid of the pest at all hazards. Quietly descending the stairs, dressed only in
his night clothes, he let himself out at the front door, seized a board and
charged upon the enemy. The cows fled in all directions, but the jangle of the
bells aroused a number of dogs and their barking added to the din. Seeing what
he had done, and not wanting to be discovered as the author
256
of the mischief, Mr. Pratt hurried back to his bed room. In a short time he was
asleep, notwithstanding the cows were soon back at the pile of salt barrels and
making as much noise as before. In telling the story, Mr. Pratt did not neglect
to mention that he won his case.
In the professions of art, literature and journalism, some of Porter county's
sons and daughters have made their mark. Robert T. Paine, who acquired a wide
reputation as a sculptor, was born in Jackson township, a son of Joel Paine. As
a boy he was fond of modeling in clay, and made several small statues before he
ever received any instruction in the art of sculpture. He ultimately became a
protege of Augustus St. Gaudens. The instruction he thus received, with his
ambition and indomitable industry, quickly enabled him to take his place among
America's leading sculptors. He built a fine Grecian home on the Palisades,
overlooking the Hudson river, and also established there his studio. His
masterpiece, "Neptune and His Mermaids," was destroyed by him while crazed with
grief over his wife's suicide in the spring of 1906.
Of those who have won distinction in literature and journalism, the name of
Gilbert A. Pierce is probably the best known. He was born in Cattaraugus county,
New York, in 1834. At the age of twenty years he came to Porter county with his
parents, who settled at Tassinong, where his father was postmaster for over
twenty-five years. He studied law in the old University of Chicago and at the
breaking out of the Civil war enlisted in Company H, Ninth Indiana infantry.
After being successively promoted to lieutenant, captain and assistant
quartermaster, he was made colonel of cavalry and inspector of the
quartermaster's department. In October, 1865, he retired from the army and
commenced the practice of law in Valparaiso, but was soon elected to the lower
house of the Indiana legislature. For two years he was financial clerk of the
United States senate. But his mind ran in a literary direction and he became an
editorial writer on the Chicago Inter-Ocean, where he remained for nearly
twelve years. Later he was connected with the Morning News in an
editorial capacity. In 1884 he was appointed
257
territorial governor of Dakota, and in 1889 was elected one of the United States
senators from North Dakota. Upon retiring from the senate in 1891, he purchased
an interest in the Minneapolis Tribune. In 1893 he was appointed minister
to Portugal, but after a short sojourn in that country failing health compelled
him to resign and return to America. With his two sons he organized the Pierce
Publishing Company in Chicago and issued a magazine entitled What to Eat.
Mr. Pierce wrote several novels, most of them stories of western life, and his
Dictionary of Dickens Characters has found favor in both England and the United
States. He died at the Lexington Hotel, Chicago, February 15, 1901.
Hubert M. Skinner, a member of the well known Porter county family of that name,
wrote a History of Valparaiso in 1876. It is a small work, but shows much
careful research and investigation. Mr. Skinner is also the author of a number
of poems, one of which, "The Old Sac Trail," appears elsewhere in this work. His
most pretentious work, however, is doubtless his "Story of the Britons," which
was published in 1903. It tells the story of the ancient Britons through the
fifteen centuries preceding the Saxon conquest, and is admirably adapted for
supplementary reading in the public schools.
Mrs. Idael Makeever, a daughter of George W. Childers, of Kouts, wrote a number
of poems, including verses in the Hoosier dialect, sonnets, lyrics and
reminiscent poems. After her marriage and removal to Stormsburg, Nebraska, she
published two volumes of verses entitled "Goldenrod" and "Prairie Flowers." The
following lines are from her "Day Dreams:"
"Time brings
the treasures of youth's bright day
And hangs
them before me in gorgeous array;
He chases the
shadows, dispelling the haze
That lingered
around them in earlier days;
He's
carefully burnished them one by one
By processes
not known under the sun;
Retaining the
sunshine, rejecting the gloom,
258
Touching them
all with a faint perfume
Sweet as tho'
wafted from Aribee,
Lying under
the dreamland tree."
Rev. J. M. Kennedy, a Methodist minister who was once pastor of the church at
Chesterton, is also the author of a book of poems of more than ordinary merit.
Prof. A. Y. Moore, an instructor in the old Valparaiso Collegiate Institute,
wrote the "Life of Schuyler Colfax." Miss Frances R. Howe, a granddaughter of
Joseph Bailly, is the author of "A Visit to Bois d'Haine," a narrative of
European travel, and "An Old French Homestead," a description and account of the
settlement established by her grandfather in Porter county in 1822. A. G.
Hardesty published an atlas of Porter county in 1876, in which is an interesting
historical sketch of the county written by himself. A number of textbooks and
monographs on educational, scientific and professional subjects have been
written by instructors in the educational institutions of the county, her
lawyers and physicians. Among these "Putnam's Elocution," published by Worthy
Putnam, who at one time was a teacher in the Valparaiso Male and Female College,
is deserving of more than passing mention. It is a large work, treating the
technical points in elocutionary training, and contains a large number of
selections well adapted to voice culture and expression. Other works of this
character that stand above the average are "The Normal Debater," by Oliver P.
Kinsey; "The Latin Sentence," by J. W. Holcombe; and Dr. E. W. Fish's work on
chemistry. Mrs. Lizzie Newell, once a resident of Valparaiso, but later of
Fargo, North Dakota, wrote a book called the "Silent Counselor," an ingenious
compilation of passages from the Bible and poetry. Mrs. E. W. Haverfield, M. D.
was the author of a book entitled "Enlightened Woman," dealing with subjects of
interest to her own sex.
No history of the professional life of Porter county would be complete without
some reference to William C. Talcott, who might be called the Nestor of Porter
county journalism. He was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, December 25,
1815, and the following year removed with
259
his parents to Lake county, Ohio, where he lived for ten years with his father
and mother and then with other persons until about 1835, when he came to Laporte
county, Indiana. Two years later he came to Porter county. At the age of fifteen
years he began preparing for the Presbyterian ministry, but while studying he
became dissatisfied with some of the doctrines of that faith and adopted the
creed of Universalism. For some ten years he was one of the pioneer preachers of
that denomination, but finally severed his connections with the church,
accepting the Golden Rule as the basis of his religious belief. It has been said
that Judge Talcott could preach a sermon, teach a school, edit a newspaper,
practice and administer the law, or successfully conduct a farm. He served as
justice of the peace, probate and common pleas judge, and was once a candidate
for the lower house of the state legislature, but was defeated because of his
strong anti-slavery and temperance views. For many years he was connected with
the publication of the Practical Observer and Valparaiso Vidette.
Porter county might be classed as a rural community, where few opportunities
exist for the development of high professional ability. There are no large
cities within her borders, no great scientific institutions or laboratories,
comparatively little litigation of a complex character requiring the skill or
services of the attorney who has made a specialty of such cases, no great
hospital where intricate surgical operations may be performed. But the
professional men of the county are fully up to the standard of those in similar
communities. Her doctors as a rule are students of their profession and keep
well abreast of the times; her lawyers command the confidence of the public and
the respect of the courts; her educators have a reputation that is known far
beyond her boundaries, and, all things considered, no professional man need feel
ashamed to admit that his home is in Porter county.
NAVIGATION OF
1912 HISTORY OF PORTER COUNTY
PREFACE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I - General Features
CHAPTER II - Aboriginal Inhabitants
CHAPTER III - Settlement and Organization
CHAPTER IV - Internal Improvements
CHAPTER V - Educational Developments
CHAPTER VI - Military History
CHAPTER VII - Township History
CHAPTER VIII - Township History (continued)
CHAPTER IX - The City of Valparaiso
CHAPTER X - Financial and Industrial
CHAPTER XI - The Professions
CHAPTER XII - Societies and Fraternities
CHAPTER XIII - Religious History
CHAPTER XIV - Miscellaneous History
CHAPTER XV - Statistical Review
Transcribed by Steven R. Shook, November 2011