The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1904-04-14
COURT HAS ADJOURNED

/ =
Judge Towner Completes the Term
and Adjourned Court Last FRI
day--Hdyden Granted Bond.
Judge Towner completed the work Of
the March term of the District Court
Friday afternoon and returned to his
home at Corning where he visited until
Monday when he opened court at Mt.
Ayr.
Friday morning the case of State VS..
DIR. J. W. Crofford was called up, Judge
Towner having earlier in the term
granted him change of venue, but the
attorneys for the state and defendant
could not make an agreement as to
where the case should be sent for trial,
so the judge gave them a few days to
talk it over, but they We're unable to
arrive at any agreement, county attor-
ney Olsen insisting that it be sent to
Wayne county, while the attorneys for
DIR. Crofford urged that it be sent to
some other county on account of a num-
ber of relatives of DIR. Crofford being
residents Of Wayne county. On the
other hand when the defendants attor-
neys asked to have the case sent to
Osceola, the state objected because NJ.
l.. Temple, one of the defendants attor-
neys resided at Osceola. At the last
minute the attorneys being no nearer
an agreement than when the matter
was first brought up, Judge Towner an
nounced he would send the case to
Clarke county for trial. The attorneys
in the case say it cannot be reached be-
fore the September term of court, which
will be held in Osceola by Judge
Towner.
The court last week also granted the
application Of John Hayden who is con-
fined in the county jail on the charge of
murder in the first degree, for the shoot
ing of w. E. Bracewell, that he be ad-
mitted to bail, fixing the amount of his
bond at $4,000, which was objected to
by his attorneys on the ground that it
was too large. Hayden is still in Jail,
and it is not thought he will be able to
give bond OF this size.
Before adjourning Judge Towner de-
cided several cases which had been sub
mitted to him during the term, among
them the following:
Allen Il John VS.. w. ]. Davis ct al, in
which plaintiffs sued for commission
for selling some property at Garden
Grove owned by Davis, and which was
denied by defendants who claimed they
were not authorized to act for them, but
the court thought they were and gave
the plaintiffs judgment for the sum Of
$187.50, and ordered the attached prop
erty sold to satisfy the judgment and
costs.
Another real estate deal decided was
the case OF Barrackman Bros. VS.. e. G.
Stewart, in which plaintiffs sued out a
writ Of attachment against defendants
property, claiming he owed them money
in a trade wherein Stewart traded his
store in Leon for farm near Humeston.
After hearing all the evidence Judge
Towner- decided that Stewart had vio-
lated the contract of sale and awarded
Barrackman Bros. $50 damages, but also
said that Barrackman Bros. had wrong
fully attached Stewards property, and
for this he gave Stewart judgment in
the sum of 5000, each side to pay one
half the costs of the case.
In the school house case in Burrell
township in which /. G. Norman and
others brought a suit against the School
Township of Burrell, to prevent the
district from moving the location of the
school house at Terre Haute, the court
held that the district had no authority
to move the school house and decided
the case in favor of the plaintiff, order
ing the defendant to return the school
house to it's former location.
1t was rather difficult proposition
for the court to decide the case Of
Bertha r. Parker VS.. Pauline Craig, a
case from Eden township growing out
of the trustees changing the water
course across the road, and in order to
fully understand the situation Judge
Towner went to Davis City and viewed
the premises. He decided the case in
favor of the plaintiff and ordered the
road supervisor. and trustees of Eden
township to reopen ditch which they
had filled up and to put in a bridge and
open culvert SO that the water would
cross the road as it did before the road
was graded up and changed.
The court also decided the case of L..
8. Clothier VS.. Eli Manning, sheriff of
to restrain the sheriff from levying on
his land to satisfy judgment for 800
which it was claimed was obtained be-
fore justice in Leon in 1878, and which
was transcripted to Lucas county a
j de'hOOi VI JSoAo ehS3os IAS lPAnlAo1u AoI
many years lived near Humeston, where
he owned nearly thousand acres Of
land and no effort was ever made to
collect the Judgment until he sold his
farm and moved to Lucas county where
he bought large tract of land, and
was surprised to find judgment against
him in that county the transcript hav-
ing been taken to Lucas county years
ago. Mr.. Clothier denied that he had
ever had a Judgment rendered against
him, or had received any notice of suit,
and Judge Towner thought likewise and
decided the case in his favor, assessing
the costs to j. J. Jackley who purchas-
ed the Judgment a number of years ago.
The following cases were decided in
addition to the list of last week:
PROBATE.
Estate OF J. W. Rains, new bond
ordered in sum of $1,000.
Estate Of Mary ]. Reed, will probated
Henry Reed appointed sole executor
sa