The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1877-06-13
FRAGMENTS OF THE EARLY HISTORY
OF OHIO COUNTY.
CHAPTER TX
ny II. D. TAYLOR

CHAPTER IN
Among the early settlers of Ohio
county were two celebrated Speculation,
and land-holders, Joseph Barnett, Sr.,
and Ignaiius Pigman. Barnett was the
first settler, and being deputy surveyor
I made en-ly-rntrivs r-rrt--urrvys NJ rtIr
best portions OF the lands lying in the
ncighborhood of Hartford, and sold a
great many Of those lands, only executing
bonds Tor their conveyance. lie died
without making a will, leaving minors,
consequently no one had power TO con
vev. To avoid this difficulty, the Leg
islature passed an act vcstiug his estate
in Stephen Cleayer, Harrison Taylor and
Henry Rhodes, as trustees and commits
sioncrs, who were authorized TO sell and
convey the same, and settle up bis estate.
They went on to dispose OF his estate in
pursuance Of this act but in after years
when Barnetts heirs became Of age they
brought suit for and recovered most OF
the lands under the decision of the Hon
Aluey Mclean, then circuit judge, that
the above act was unconstitutional and
void Ii may here be remarked that
Judge Mclean was an honest man, an
incompatible judge, and OF good medium
intellect; but like many others vested
with judicial authority, had Penchant
fo- being great constitutional jurist,
and thought it his duty to guard well our
sacred charter of rights against logisla>
tive encroachmeuts.
The legal proceedings in these cases are
a lii illustration OF what farce we make
ia our mode of dispensing justice, of
that provision of our constitution copied
from the great magma ekaJta Of England,
which declares that justice shall be al :
miuistered without sale dtldy or dsa,iaL
These poor men who had bought and
paid Tor their lands, aud had spent the
best period Of their lives in hard labor
improving them, after being kept in
court term after term, spending every
dollar they conld raise in paying fee bills,
expenses and lawyers fees. were ILLEGALLY
overwhelmed when the sheriff VISITED
them 10 turn them out OF doors, sizing
most of their property To pay plaintiffs
execution for costs, and vet were denied
Justice, because they had not the means
to buy it, by taking their claims To- the
court Of appeals. For the same qrcs-
,iou arose some years afterwards in an
adjoining county, and the defendant he
ing a man of means, took the case 10 the
Appellate Court, where the act appoint
ing said commissioner, &c, was decided
10 be constitutional, but our poor suffer-
ers were dead or had left the country,
aud il was too late to take an appeal in
their cases.
1t is doubtful whether our people or our
legislature will ever have the magnas
nimiiy to enforce this much vau.ted
clause Of unconstitutional law, and make
our courts free to the poor aud rich
alike, without burdening them with
taxes, officers and attorneys fees, to such
an extent that justice nowadays is a
luxury scarcely in the reach OF any but
the wealthy and the absolute insolvenL
But how could this be done? Simply by
letting all the officers of court, like our
Judges, draw their salaries from the psb>
lie treasury, aud thus Danish all fees
and almost the universal practice of
charging illegal and constructive. fec
bills; but it will be objected, that this
i'll increase litigation. to which it may
be replied, in the first place, that this. in
great measure, could he remedied by
giving the judge discretionary power to
tax the party in the wrong, with costs by
way Of penalty, and, ia the next place,
should NOT Justice BE done though he HeaeeAS
fall
Ignatius Pigman was a Methodist
preacher Of widespread fame, both in
Virginia and Maryland, as an orator,
christian gentleman, and an energetic
business man. lie came to this country
and acquired title TO various lands, and
returned TO Maryland and sold to his con-
fiding neighbors aud friends Kentucky
lands, aud either took in exchange their
homes, or the proceeds of their homes in
Maryland This, perhaps, was done in
good faith, but it resulted disastrously to
mcst persons who had bought Kentucky
lands. 4 short time before their arrival,
good many persons had come to the
country during the fall season, when the
low fiats, or bottom lands were most
lovely and fascinating to the eye OF the
beholder, aud bought such lands; but
during the following winter and spring
their lands were almost entirely sub,
merged in water, and they abandoned
them in despair. 1t was then thought
that the lands of the country were valu-
able in proportion to their elevation, the
whole face Of the country being covered
with rich black mould and luxuriant
growth Of cane and pea-vine. Many
OF Pigman's emigrants, therefore, select
ed the most broken, billy locations in the
country, and it only needed few years
cultivation for the rains to wash their
soil and hopes away, which fact accounts
for so many old abandoned farms in the
country; but this was not all. Pigman
might have heard of the poor lrishman
who was always boas1ing Of his large