The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-12-12

harm and they will be glad enough after
while to take the oath of allegiance and
secure their release Morton probably be-
lieved Lincoln would commute the sem
tence when it came to him. When copy
of the record was taken to Lincoln in De-
cember, 1864, by my attorneys, Joseph b
Mcdonald and Jonathan w. Gordon, Mr..
Lincoln declared he could find nothing to
justify the finding as against HorSey ana
myself and promised these gentlemen, in
the presence of General Singleton. that
when the official record reached him he
would disaffirm the finding and set Horsey
and myself at liberty. Or. Bowles, he said,
should be sent across the line TO his South
ern friends until the close OF the war.
Judge Advocate Holt never presented the
official record to Lincoln, and when, after
Lincoln'S assassination, 1t was presented
to Johnson he promptly affirmed the find
ing without an examination. The earnest
efforts Of Governor Morton to induce Pres
ident Johnson to commute the sentence
were due to his promise TO the members
of the commission more than to his sense
of justice to me or his appreciation OF the
fact that my trial was an illegal one.
Pettit's efforts were solely at the sohcita-
ton of Morton. He was Influenced neither
by personal friendship for me nor expecta-
ton of financial gain. Petit was the
speaker of the Indiana House, an ex-mem-
Der Of Congress and was selected by NOR
ton as his ambassador TO influence Jonn-
son.
After my sentence had been commuted
I was taken to Columbus for confinement.
For the purpose of annoying me, suppose
I was assigned a place at the table Wnere
all my associates were colored men. This
was, no doubt, regarded as Joke, Out
IL did not disturb me in the least When-
ever there were distinguished visitors at
the prison DR.. BowleS and myself were
invariably paraded before them for their
qualification. The first quarters given me-
were exceedingly unhealthy, and fell sick
and was sent to the hospital. l was trans
frrs on,
Of my physical condition the officers could
not sell me-that is, dispose or my serN-
ices to prison labor contractors-and the
directors ordered that should be assigned
to the position of hospital doctor. l knew
nothing of medicine, but had been con-
founded with DR.. Milligan. at one time
a member of the Indiana Legislature, ana
my denial was not believed. 1 had some
knowledge of chemistry, and as the duties
were largely clerical / got along salts
factorily. The directors were kind enough
to tell me that as had life sentence TO
serve, even if my medical knowledge was
limited, they preferred to have me In the
place rather than prisoner who might
possibly soon leave the prison.
AS THE PRISON DOCTOR.
81 recollect my first case. A young man
was brought in one evening, suffering with
the toothache. 1 vain 1 protested thai
had never drawn teeth and had no OK
perience The guard threatened severe pull
ishment if l didn't pull the teeth and a:
last I fished out an old pair of turkeys
and proceeded to business. / pulled two
teeth instead of one. but fortunately the
aching tooth was one of them. i after
ward became quite expert as a dentist am
have often pulled from ten to twenty
teeth a day.
.'The deputy warden Of the prison was
a brutal wretch, but my position saved he
ion, 10 (.rS
saw proper to consult me In several o.
stances affecting the prison management,
and had the satisfaction OF Knowing tnet
stopped considerable officlai stealing
which had been going on in the hospltai.
Among the officers was whisky THIEF,
quinine thief and a morphine thief, and, at
last, one of the wardens robbed the hos
pital of a fine new mattress and a con-
siderable quantity of bedding. 1 learned
that the thief was properly punished, out
as / was soon after released L do not know
whether the reform was permanent
81 had no doubt of my release when the
Supreme Court should hear the case. al
though Judge David Davis did not promIl-
gate the opinion of the court until the
spring of 1866, Justice Field has him.
self informed me that the court had agree1
as to what the opinion should be in Novem-
Der of the previous year. The last sly
months of my Imprisonment were for the
glory of Judge Davis, that ne might nave ave
court, which, by the way, was very aoie
and exhaustive paper, covering fully 100
pages.
''When the Supreme Court announced its
decision, declaring the illegality OF the
trial by the military commission warden
Prentes did not release me until Judge
Pugh Of Columbus, issued a writ of habeas
corpus. Even then he did not consent To
do so until advised by Governor Cox that
he must obey the writ. An effort was
made to prolong my imprisonment but
Judge Pugh refused to grant delay OF
'one day. one hour or one minute. ard
ordered my immediate release. 1t was not
until / was free man that President john
son granted a pardon.
my arrest and Incarceration was heavy
drain on me financially. In round numbers
am safe in saying that ii cost me SS.vqp
Besides this my friends raised a consider
able sum of money, well up in the hun
dreds, If not thousands, for my defense
Several of my neighbors here In Huntington
contributed literally. L could name a half
dozen who gave at least $50 each. i never
knew the full amount, the names Of TIE
donors or the manner in which ii was ex-
pended. The Hon. Jerry Black. the IA
nous attorney, and General Garfield were
voluntary counsel before the Supreme Court
In my behalf. and neither, to my knowl-
heir