Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1848-11-04
For tae Wisconsin Herald.
HUGH Re- Golfer.

~ - "a hiNttNt VI ~ 'ift'N II ~ ~ ti'ohy
of your readers thai this man should have
the presumption and hardihood to offer him
self and solicit votes for the important Of
fee Of Judge of Probate, and it is still more
surprising that men Of intelligence and en-
titled to respect, should volunteer to recon-
mend him for it, if they are aware of his
unfitness for it. The presumption is that
they are not aware Of his conduct in Office,
or they would not have dreamed of supper
ting him. They ossht therefore, to be in
formed. az
That he is and has been either dishonest,
or too big sap-head 10 do the duties of the
Office correctly, is evident from the follow
ing facts which are~matters of common no.
toriety, especially with those who have
had business to do with him: =
He has made it rule, when he heard of
the death of a man in the country, to go,
post haste, with blanks under seal, to the
widow or next of kin, and in some round
about way inform them that letters of adj
ministration must be taken out Immediately,
and that he was present and ready to grant
them letters; and when the inventory is
ready, to make another visit to receive it,
and so on for as many visits as he could
conjure up, for which he charged the estate
tiUe dollars day and mileage. His excuse
for this was, when he was recorder of deeds,
that he could make that much recording
deeds. BY this means he has taken illegal
fees from every estate he could, of from ten
to thirty dollars, probably averaging twenty,
which has been taken from widows, or
phans and creditors. And if one hundred
estates have been settled, he has by this
means taken from widows, orphans, aud
creditors, some t,co thousand dollars in
the shape Of illegal fees. And by this
means, also, he has kept his office travelling
round the country, while the law requires it
TO be kept at the county seat. This course
has been very annoying to the public, for
men and women having business with his
office, on going to Lancaster, would often
find that he, the notable Judge, was off to
so me other part of the county, in pursuit of
some widow: thereby making it necessary
their journey, from ten to thirty
miles, in order to see his honor. And it has
occurred that a second and third visit has
met with the same disappointment.
1t is well known fact that many of the
were so enormously, if not fraudulently re-
corded, that the holders of them have been
obliged to have them recorded over again.
And it is equally well known that for recor-
ding deeds he uniformly taxed more than
the legal fees-probably from twenty-five to
fifty cents each.
1t is also well known-for it came to light
in open court-that he has sent up to the
District Court, documents which under his
seal and oath of office he certified to be true
copies, but which proved, on examination,
to be, either by design or carelessness, mutt
lated and imperfect, and operating greatly
to the injury of the party, ii is believed, he
wished to injure.
He has showed either dishonesty, or ina
bility to fill the office, by so doing the BUSH
ness Their eof as TO open it to further litiga-
ton, thereby opening the way for HIM to
get more fees by furnishing copies of the
papers. Witness the case of the estate of
HUMGs and BURNETT, and others. And in
the case of PATRICK DooLoE, where an es-
state of some 81 400, with some two or three
hundred dollars of debts, the whole estate
was consumed and the debts not all paid.
The administrator says that Golfer told
him to give him 500, and he would fix it.
He did so, and it is fixed so as to show that
the administrator paid out about $50 over
and above his receipts
If such man is fit for the office, why,
then, let the honest freemen of the county
vote for him.
But he makes such poor mouth because
he is a cripple!-and he claims support be-
cause he is reformed drunkard! Well, as
a cripple he is entitled to pity, and for refor-
ming he is entitled to respect, prOrided he
is otherwise entitled to ii; but if not, all the
sympathies bestowed upon him are improp-
erly applied.
These sympathies have elected him to
lucrative offices for years past, out of which,
it is believed, he has screwed out of widows,
orphans, and honest creditors, in the shape
Of Illegal fees, not less than $1,000 over and