Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-05-23
FOURTEENTH DAY.


EvIdenee for the Defense Continued
strong RECRUITING Testimony.
"WEDNESDAY. MAY %, 1867 The court
met at nine o'clock, all the members being
present. t|aE H#.... sr
TESTIMONY OF ATTORNEY GENERAL STUB
BLEFIELD.
Geo. J Smbblefeld being worn was ex-
amined by Mr.. East.
Gun Attorney General of the district
composed Of Williamson, Sumner and
Davidson counties. / was appointed in
February, 1868, by the Governor of the
State, Andrew johnson. | have held that
Office ever since. A few days previously
NJ. NJ. Brien was appointed Judge Of the
Criminal Court by Gov. johnson. He has
held that Office ever since / have been
present at all courts held by Judge Frazier
in this city. ! vas present, however, bnt
partoft the time of the sitting of the court that
was held in July, 1866. | and Judge Fra
zier associated together very frequently
during the whole time. We were both
old line Wings, were both run off from our
homes by the Rebels, and were both APP
pointed to office here. Judge Frazier
transacted good deal Of his business in
my Office. do not remember to have met
with him but in my own Office and yours i
do not thiak he had a general association
here. He is rather a timid, unassuming
man. / think know his feelings towards
the government of the United States and
towards the State government. His dispO-
stion towards the government Of the
United States was always that of loyal
and devoted citizen. As to the State gov
government, ] am sure he ALWAYS bad
the same friendly and kindly feelings
towards it, / think / have az much means
Of knowing his feelings as any, or perhaps
more than any other man in Nashville l
remember well when Governor johnson
presented to him the commission he de-
clined to take it. He urged, 81 have not
lived here previously and should labor
under disadvantages as a stranger, and the
fact becoming known might exasperate nv
enemies in my own neiehborhoOd. and /
would be torn up; and further, / do not
think / am qualified" Mr.. johnson re-
piled, ] am well acquainted with you, and
If ] can get one court in operation it will
| help 10 facilitate the organization of other
courts, and TO extend our Judicial organi-
cations generally" And on that ground
he accepted it. Judge Frazier has
occasionally had to charge iuries
in ofenses involving more or less
directly political interests and feelings.
His department has always been that Of
fairness and impartiality, so far as | am a
| Judge. The question of the constitution
| ality of the acts of the Legislature has
come up before him, and he has always re-
cognized their validity. His charges have
been uniformly in accordance with the law
as passed by the Legislature That remark
applies equally to the acts of Congress, too.
| l was present at part of the trial of the
haboas corpus. | had very little conyersa-
ton with Judge Frazier on that subject
| He and had been in fhe Criminal Court
searching up bills of COSTS and while thus
| engaged, Judge Gaut came and told Judge
Frazier that he had a writ Of aJsas corpus.
knew nothing Of this till then. He seemed
to consider for a moment and as il was
matter of business between the Judge and
the lawyer, / did not give any attention to
| IL. | heard him make some remarks which
! do not recollect, hut which led me to think
that he did not like TO have any thing TO
do with the matter He said TO me while
the thing was pending, " 1 would like to
decide this question to Keep those fellows
in custody, but ] must search the law and
see how it rules" This, / think, was the
evening before the case was tried. went
up 10 the courthouse next day. Judge
Gaut, Judge Brien, and perhaps Mr.. Col
var were there. Mr.. Trimble came up and
made 4 speech and asked the court
TO adjourn, saying he was wearied and
Just out of the Senate. Judge
Bried urged that he wanted to leave
town with his family that night, | think,
and strenuously urged a decision at once,
without adjournment. The case, | know,
was adjourned till next morning at, |
think, ten O'clock | went UP next morn
ing and heard Mr.. Trimble's speech.
Judge Frazier ruled that il was not neces-
sary to bring the prisoners into court. i
conversed with Judge Frazier after the
trial. He said to me very little about the
decision. He merely said to me that he
would have been glad to decide the thing
the other way. He said to me regarding
their boiling, that when Andrew johnson
and the immortal thirteen" left the
Legislature, they did wrong. al regard
it, he said, " as revolutionary to act in
that way" ! have known Judge Frazier
since 1870 His character is that of a
correct, upright and conscientious man.
This IL the first imputation | have heard
cast against him in my life, either in his
public or private relationship. / do not
| think he is in the habit of attending politi-
cal meetings, either as Judge or otherwise
He once ran for the Legislature, and was a
candidate for the convention on the Union
ticket in 1861. When | said Judge Fra
Zier was a timid man, | meant rather that
he is unobtrusive and modest When he
has formed his opinion he is as firm and un
tlinching as any man. The government
employed him in organizing the cOuntie4
in the neighborhood in which he lived
la 1864 Governor johnson gave him ,
commission for the election of magistrates
| sent il 10 him myself ] understood tina
elections were held and County Court
| organized under IT, The Rebels woul,
often make incursions into his neighbor
hood and he would be compelled to flee
! always knew when Wheeler was crossin,
the mountain, for Frazier would come
Cross-examined by Mr. Maynard: Judg
Frazier was Chancery Court clerk in 1S40
5 think he IS my senior. suppose he j
Il about ftty-hve; l am past forty-eight. Th
largely prevailing sentiment of the com
munitv when | came here was Rebel o.
this account both myself and Judge Frazie
felt it incumbent upon us to use great cir
cumspection We anticipated narrow scru
tiny and criticism from both side
/ knew | would have TO prosecute partie
> from both armies, Rebel soldiers and Fed
n eral soldiers. The tone Of lhe public pres
C in this city was at that time eXceedingl
fierce and bitter. The Bd1aT, Dispdtc
and Gazette, were ever forward to censur
= aud condemn the ruling powers Th
- Press and Times was then the JRlOa an
was the organ Of Governor johnson. Tn
whole Rebel press had been exceedingl
bitter and acrimonious. / do not kno
the fact that the savage tone peryading tn
press has deferred Union men from avoV
ing their principles and sentimentsas tnio
men. ] believe that the Rebel papers di
not represent the true sentiment of tn
community. / have heard the rank an
file Of the citizens in private conyersatio
express themselves as displeased wit
this incendiary tone have heard no pul
> lie speech denouncing the violence at a
Rebel pres There wasa good deal ofexcit
ment in July, 1866, on the subject of a
>, meeting Of the Legislature and the passal
of the constitutional amendment. The p
pers we're advocating a course hostile
the Legislature ! do not know II al
men who had heretofore claimed 90
Union men were in sympathy with the :
Z IL