The Toledo chronicle. [volume] (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1873-1924, 1878-03-28
An Eloquent Tribute.

solemn stiffness pervaded the court
room when the venerable member OF
the bar arose to second the resolutions.
He said: 1.-The deceased was a remark
able parsonage in the ranks Of profess
sional jurymen He was an old-liner.
patient and steady as clock, deter
mined in opinion, ever ready to assume
the cares and responsibilities of the oc-
cupation he had marked out for himself
in life. Men are prone to falter and lie
out of it, if they can, pleading busi-
ness, measles in the family, much in
formation and prejudice in the case.
But he never shirked. When duty
called he was always there, and came
up pure and unbiased as dove.
II doubt that we shall ever look
upon his like again. Others may emu
late his example, and. by great expe-
rience, devotion to duty and thorough
development of talent, rise high in the
profession, but who shall take the place
Of him whose loss we mournP knew
him long and well. We were friends.
Much of my success in life and in
pleading at this bar l owe to him. He
never forsook friend in the jury-room.
When l turn my eyes to that vacant
ard well-worn chair at the end of the
front row, can almost see him as OF
yore, so calm, so composed, so like a
Judge himself upon the bench.
Toward the last, in the infirmities OF
years, he may have slept much at his
post, and his hearing been pretty much
gone, yet so vast was his experience
and intimacy with the requirements
of his office, that he discharged his du-
ties without embarrassment, and in a
manner to satisfy his own conscience
and one side of the contending fac
tions. What more could mortal jury.
man dop He was not, you may say, q
popular man with his colleagues. He
had enemies, as every man of decided
opinions has. Some were envious o1
his success. He was, moreover, a
sticker. The bent of his mind was
toward disagreement. He held his
comrades with steady hand, and
either brought them round, or there
was deadlock. He was leader o.
iuries or he went alone. Hence he in
Cured disfavor. More than once wa.
his life imperiled in the jury-room, bu
he calmly looked death in the face, an(
hung on to the last When, on one oc
casi0n, mob Of eleven strong men at
tackled him and hauled him up to thu
ceiling several times to persuade hin
to submit, his unconquerable spirit die
not finch. And then. on another occa
sion, when a similar mob bucked ant
gagged him, and kept him without fooe
and drink for five long days, he wa
still for disagreement, and triumphet
at last. There, if it please the Court
was virtue of the old school. And al
be asked was his per diem.
"You take a jury that has sa
through long case of, say, two o.
three weeks, and that goes out to de
liberate as constipated in bowels ant
ill-tempered in spirit as a sedentary
hen; you lock that jury up in colo
and cheerless room, and let the Judge
swear in his charge that they shall no
get out or have mite to eat or drink
or change of socks until they brins
in verdict, and you may wager strong
| that they will agree, somehow, inside
of a week. But when the deceased wa
| dklOllX US, Ills w do nOe q cesAO VS."
ment. He was wonderfully construct
ed physically and mentally for pro
tracted hanging. In a cow case in
volving $40, be held the jury nine days
One died Of privation, and the othe
ten emaciated and half insane, had tt
be carried into the courtroom. This
he frequently remarked, astle proud
est effort Of his life. Disagreement
was the characteristic of his existenc
-in the Squire's Office, during loDi
career as a Coroner's juror, and then
for, half century. in the higher walk
of Justice. He was born to be q jury
man. 1t was his sole aim on earth
aud now that he is gone, / venture t
say that, if opportunity presents, b
| win offer his services in similar ca
pacity in the upper courts. =
4 Then the Judge ordered the resolu
/ tiops spread upon the records and th
i chair Of the departed properly draped
4 CSncinssdti Commercial.