Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse Part 1

Autobiography of Charles Clinton Nourse.

by Charles Clinton Nourse.

CHAPTER I

ANCESTRY AND EARLY LIFE

DES MOINES, IOWA, MAY, 1908

TO MASTER JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN,

DEAR JOE:

I promised your father that I would write you a long letter containing in detail something of a biography of myself. He a.s.sures me it is not intended for publication, but only for your perusal and for such friends of the family as may now or hereafter deem it interesting to know something of those of the family who have preceded them.

In Was.h.i.+ngton county, in the state of Maryland, near the little stream of Antietam creek, where was fought one of the memorable battles of our Civil War, there is located a quaint, old fas.h.i.+oned village called Sharpsburg. The inhabitants of the village and neighborhood were in a large part Germans or of German descent.

On one corner of the public square there still remains, in fairly good repair, an old fas.h.i.+oned stone dwelling house. In this house on the first day of April, A.D. 1829, I was born, as were also my two older brothers, Joseph Gabriel and John Daniel, born respectively June 25, 1826, and November 30, 1827. This stone house at one time belonged to my grandfather, Gabriel Nourse, who was the son of James Nourse. The ancestors of the latter are given in a book now in the possession of your mother, ent.i.tled _James Nourse and his Descendants_.

In the bas.e.m.e.nt or first story of this stone building my father taught school about the time of the birth of his three boys, given above. At that early day the people of the village and surrounding country were not supposed to be very highly educated. If children were taught to read and write indifferently and something of arithmetic, at least as far as the single rule of three, their education was supposed to be sufficient for the practical purposes of life. My father has related to me that when he first commenced teaching in the village, in the presence of such a company as usually a.s.sembles around a country store, a wise man of the village explained to his admiring hearers that the cause of the changes of the moon resulted from the fact that the earth came between the sun and the moon and hence obstructed the light in such a way as to produce the new moon and the various changes until the full moon. My father rashly attempted to suggest that the wise man was mistaken, for the obvious reason that the moon in its first quarter could be seen in the heavens at the same time as the sun could be observed, and it was impossible that the moon could be partially darkened by the shadow of the earth. The wise man was rather mortified by this exposure of his ignorance, but did not acknowledge his error, but angrily reproved a young man for presuming to differ with him.

In this stone building also my grandfather, Gabriel, died in April, 1839, and was buried in the village churchyard. This stone house is still standing at the date of this writing, and the bas.e.m.e.nt room where my father taught school is occupied as a store-room for vending relics and curiosities gathered from the battle-fields of the neighborhood.

Three miles from the village of Sharpsburg, on the Virginia side of the Potomac river, there is another quaint, old fas.h.i.+oned village called Shepherdstown. Here my mother, Susan Cameron, was born October 25, 1803, and was married to my father, Charles Nourse, June 10, 1825. Here in this village my mother died October 10, 1835. There is still standing in this town the old Methodist church, surrounded by a village churchyard, where will be found modest tombstones marking the graves of my mother, and of many of her brothers and sisters, and also her mother, Susan Cameron, who died at Shepherdstown, Virginia, July 20, 1855. My mother's father's name was Daniel Cameron, born in Scotland, October, 1753. His wife was also of Scotch descent. Her family name was Clinton, which name was bestowed upon me, and in honor of my grandmother and to please her I have always been known in the family by the name of Clinton, my first name being Charles, so named after my father. My father, Charles Nourse, was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, April 15, 1801.

Several years before my mother's death my father had removed from Sharpsburg to Frederick City, Maryland, where he taught school for several years, and while living there, to-wit, August 9, 1833, your mother's mother was born.

My recollections of my mother are not very distinct, as I was only six years old at the time of her death. Only one incident of my early childhood I call to mind very clearly. I had been induced by my older brothers and some neighbor boys, whilst playing in the market square at Frederick City, to attempt to imitate them in the use of chewing tobacco, which resulted in making me very sick. Whilst lying upon the trundle bed in the room upstairs of the house where we resided, I vomited very freely, and as I lay back upon my pillow, pale and weak from the effort, I remember a kind face of one stooping over me and sympathizing deeply, not knowing the cause of my illness, and I remember how guilty I felt at being the object of so much undeserved sympathy.

The last two years of our residence in Maryland we lived at a little village at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains called Burkettsville, and during part of these two years my grandmother Cameron kept house for us and had charge of her four grandchildren. I remember her very distinctly, the most affectionate and patient woman it was ever my fortune to know.

In February, 1841, my father, with his four children then living, took the old fas.h.i.+oned stage-coach at Boonesboro, Maryland, crossing the Allegheny mountains, coming on to Wheeling, crossing the Ohio river, and thence via Zanesville and Somerset, Ohio, to the little village of East Rushville in Fairfield county, Ohio. After teaching school in East Rushville during the summer of that year, my father with myself and sister Susan removed to Lancaster, the county seat of Fairfield county, Ohio, leaving my two older brothers as heavy clerks in country stores--my brother Joseph with a man named Clayton and my brother John with a man named Paden, in two separate villages in the county of Fairfield. My father taught school in Lancaster, Ohio, for four years, I think most of the time for a compensation of $300 a year. As this sum was hardly sufficient to support him and his two children at a respectable boarding house, it became necessary for me to relieve the situation and to start out in the world for myself. My first attempt was in a country store at East Rushville with a man by the name of Coulson. After four months heavy clerking with this man, he failed in business and sold out his stock of remnants, and I returned to Lancaster to my father. After a few months I again attempted to do business in support of myself, and I hired out to another village store-keeper, without any fixed compensation further than that I was to have my board and clothes for my services. My duties consisted of weighing out groceries, taking in eggs, b.u.t.ter, and feathers, and packing and preparing for s.h.i.+pment the b.u.t.ter and eggs, for which there was not sufficient local market. I also sold goods through business hours, made fires both in the store and for the family, sawed wood, milked the cow, and in the fall and winter fed, curried, and cared for a half dozen horses that were s.h.i.+pped in the spring for the eastern market. At the end of sixteen months of this kind of service my employer advised me and also my father that I would never make a merchant. I had positively refused to conform to his instructions in doing business in the manner in which he thought was most for his interest. He was engaged also at that time in buying leaf tobacco that was raised in the Hocking hills, for which he paid about one-third cash, one-third on short time, and one-third in goods out of the store.

He had three prices or more for nearly everything he had to sell, depending, of course, on the character of his customer and the kind of pay he was to receive. For instance: his cash customers, of whom there were very few, received four pounds of coffee for a dollar. His long credit customers, of whom there were many, received three pounds of coffee for a dollar, whilst his trade customers, especially those who took goods out of the store for tobacco, received two and a half pounds of coffee for a dollar. It was not easy for a young boy, or as young a boy as I was at that time, always to understand the exact standing of the customers, and it was necessary to watch carefully the old man who was proprietor of the store, who indicated by signs upon his fingers, which I too frequently misunderstood, just exactly how much coffee for a dollar a customer was ent.i.tled to. One remarkable incident of the manner in which my employer did business I remember very distinctly.

During the day our little store was crowded with customers who had sold tobacco to our employer and had to take their pay in part out of the store. A young man by the name of Johnnie, who was a year or two older than myself and a favorite with the proprietor of the store, had during the day sold to a German woman a large red and yellow cotton handkerchief for the sum of thirty-seven and a half cents that was marked twelve and a half cents and had cost us eight and a third cents.

The next day she returned with one of her neighbors who also had to take her pay out of the store for tobacco, and she wanted another of those red and yellow cotton handkerchiefs, which Johnnie sold her of course at the same price. In the evening Johnnie and myself had to go over to the old gentleman's residence before we retired for the night and attend family prayers. During the evening the old gentleman recited Johnnie's exploits in selling those cotton handkerchiefs for three times the marked price, and then chuckled gleefully, praising Johnnie for his success and how he would make a merchant, but that I would never learn; and then turning to his eldest daughter he said: "Hand me the bible, dear, we will have prayers."

Whilst living with this old gentleman I became thoroughly disgusted with mercantile life, as I then saw it and witnessed it, and cast about in my own mind seriously to know what I should do for the future. I realized that I neglected my opportunities whilst attending school under my father's instructions, and I resolved, as far as I could under the circ.u.mstances, to supply the omission. I got out my old Kirkham's grammar and my arithmetic and algebra, and spent many of my nights after the store closed in study. At the end of sixteen months of this life I returned again to my father, who was still at Lancaster. During the last year that I lived at Lancaster I a.s.sisted my father in his school, teaching the younger children, and still to a limited extent pursuing my own studies.

In the fall of 1844 my father determined to remove to Kentucky, leaving my sister Susan, your mother's mother, with Mrs. Catherine Sumner, a most excellent Presbyterian lady with whom my father had boarded for several years during his stay in Lancaster. My father first stopped at Millersburg, Bourbon county, and took up school, but only remained there a few months, having in the meantime heard of a vacancy in the position of princ.i.p.al of the public school in Lexington. Having secured this position at a salary then of only $600 a year, we removed to Lexington in the early part of 1845.

I became one of the a.s.sistant teachers in this school at a salary of twenty dollars a month for the first year, but subsequently was promoted to the position of first a.s.sistant at a salary of thirty dollars per month, and continued to occupy that position until the fall of 1849, when I secured, by courtesy of the city council of the city of Lexington, the favor of entering the law school of Transylvania University, the city having a number of scholars.h.i.+ps in that inst.i.tution at its gratuitous disposal. During the four years that I taught school as an a.s.sistant in the city school, I still pursued my own private studies at night, reciting to my father in the morning before school hours, until about the year 1848, when I had saved money enough from my meager salary to procure some text books of the law, and commenced reading law. In the meantime I had formed the acquaintance of a young lawyer, Abraham S. Drake, who became a very devoted friend of mine and superintended my reading, giving me such instructions as were necessary. My situation as a teacher in the public school in Lexington was very trying upon my health. I had an average of about fifty small children in a small room not more than twenty feet square, about six hours a day except Sat.u.r.day, and had to occupy myself with my private studies when I ought to have had the privilege of and needed exercise in the open air. I had some satisfaction, however, in the success of my scholars, making it a specialty to teach them the art of reading well and reading aloud, an art which in the subsequent years I have found our public schools are sadly neglecting. I hope, dear Joe, you will succeed while you are going to school in learning to read, that being a neglected and almost a lost art in this day and generation.

In August, 1846, my father returned to Lancaster, Ohio, and married Miss Hetty Herron, an adopted child of Mrs. Catherine Sumner's with whom my sister Susan had been living. Returning to Lexington, he continued teaching until 1850, when he removed to Millersburg, Kentucky.

In the fall of 1849 I entered the senior cla.s.s of the law department of Transylvania University, and in March, 1850, graduated and received my diploma from that school. My preceptors were two very able judges of the supreme court of Kentucky, to-wit, Judge Robinson and Judge Marshall. I had first taken up the idea of becoming a lawyer during my residence in Lancaster, Ohio, where I frequently spent my Sat.u.r.days in attendance upon the courts, listening with great interest to the speeches and discussions of the eminent men who const.i.tuted the bar at that place, among them Henry Stansbury, afterwards Attorney General of the United States, Thomas Ewing, afterwards Secretary of the Treasury of the United States during General Harrison's administration, Hocking H. Hunter, afterwards one of the judges of the supreme court of Ohio.

Whilst residing in Lexington, Kentucky, I pursued the same course, visiting the courts whenever opportunity offered, hearing such men as Henry Clay and Thomas F. Marshall, and other distinguished lawyers of Kentucky, arguing their cases.

In the meantime I had joined the Methodist Episcopal church on probation, and made the acquaintance of Miss Rebecca A. McMeekin.

In the spring of 1850, after my graduation in the law department of Transylvania University, I determined to visit Ohio. I had some idea of settling in that state, as my two brothers who remained in Ohio were then in business in Fairfield county, my oldest brother Joseph having commenced the mercantile business on his own account at New Salem, Ohio, and my brother John had commenced the practice of medicine in the village of New Baltimore in the same county. Before leaving Lexington, however, I felt it due to myself and to Miss McMeekin to explain to her my frequent visits to her house. I wrote her a letter telling her of my hopeless condition financially and of the uncertain prospects of my success in my profession, but protesting my affection for her and my good faith in the attentions that I had paid her, and asking her to decide our future for herself. She made no reply in writing, but in my next visit to her she simply expressed her faith in my ultimate success in my profession, and her entire willingness to risk the future, so that when I left Lexington for Ohio, which I did in April, 1850, I was simply engaged to be married.

When I arrived at Lancaster I entered the office of John D. Martin, an eminent lawyer of that place, in pursuance of a previous correspondence with him. He had been a particular friend of my father and an a.s.sistant to him in his school during my father's residence in Lancaster in 1842-3. He already had his nephew, Charles Martin, as an a.s.sistant in his office and could not offer me any compensation or any work. After two months I found it necessary to do something to replenish my exhausted finances. I first took a select school in Millersport a small town on the ca.n.a.l a few miles north of New Baltimore. After teaching here for three months I took the winter school in New Baltimore at a salary of $30 a month. In the meantime, through the acquaintances of my brother Joseph, located at New Salem, and my brother John, located at New Baltimore, I became known throughout that part of the country as an embryo lawyer. Although not admitted regularly to the practice of law, in the courts of record, I had the right to practice before the justices of the peace of the county, and during that summer I tried some seventeen cases before these inferior courts. I still continued my studies of the law, using very frequently a book known there as _Swan's Treatise_, compiled for the benefit of the justices of the peace of the state by Judge Swan, of Ohio. This book also contained many references to the supreme court decisions of the state, and I was accustomed after school hours to walk to Lancaster and borrow these reports from my friend, Mr. Martin, frequently taking them home and using them upon the trial of my cases, which always occurred on Sat.u.r.days when I had no school.

During my stay in Ohio, I read carefully and with much profit to myself, the daily reports of the proceedings of the state convention that was then forming a new const.i.tution for that state.

Many eminent lawyers were members of the convention, among them Mr.

Stansbury, afterwards Attorney General of the United States, and Mr.

Raney, afterwards Judge of the supreme court of the state of Ohio.

Occasionally the learned men of the convention indulged their sense of humor, and among other incidents of the debates I recall the following:

Among other members of the convention there was an uneducated man by the name of Sawyer. Mr. Stansbury, of the committee on the judiciary, reported a provision relating to the powers of certain courts, authorizing them to issue writ of habeas corpus, procedendo, quo warranto, and mandamus.

Mr. Sawyer objected to these Latin terms being in the const.i.tution on the ground that many of his const.i.tuents could not understand the meaning of such terms and he wanted the committee to put the words into English language, and also asked for an explanation of the meaning of these words.

Mr. Stansbury very courteously explained that the difficulty was not in the use of the terms proposed, but it was because his friend did not understand the nature of these writs. For the benefit of Mr. Sawyer he explained their meaning, but suggested that the use of any English terms or words would not make the character of the writs any better understood to those who are not familiar with the law. He said that the literal meaning of the words "habeas corpus" was to have the body, and the writ was issued in case any one complained of being illegally imprisoned, or restrained of their personal liberty, and was intended for the purpose of having the body of the person in whose behalf the writ was issued brought before the court, in order that the cause of his restraint or imprisonment might be inquired into and its legality or illegality be determined; that to call the writ, a writ to have the body, would not make the term any more intelligent than to use the words "habeas corpus."

That the word "procedendo" simply meant to proceed or go ahead, and was a name of a writ that was issued by the appellate court to an inferior tribunal, authorizing them to proceed in accordance with the opinion of the appellate court. Out of respect to the character of a man who had become famous in the west, of an early day, he would suggest to his friend Sawyer that this writ might be called a writ of "David Crocket,"

as it was a favorite motto of that individual to "Be sure you are right and then go ahead."

That the literal meaning of the words "quo warranto" was, "Why do you do it?" It was a writ issued by some superior court to an inferior court or tribunal, corporation or officer, to ascertain by what authority they exercised certain powers; that the only term in English that would express the particular character of the writ would be the words, "Why do you do it?"

The writ of "mandamus" was a writ issued by the court commanding some inferior tribunal or officer to do and perform certain duties which were required by law and which he had refused to perform. That the only words in the English language that would properly define the character of this writ would be, "Do it, d.a.m.n you."

It is not necessary to add that Mr. Sawyer gave the convention no further trouble in regard to the Latin names of these writs.

CHAPTER II

EARLY EXPERIENCES IN IOWA

In the spring of 1850 I had determined to seek a location for the practice of law in some western state. I first thought of migrating to Oregon, but gave up that idea for the reason that I feared if I traveled that far from my intended I might never have the means to go back to Kentucky to claim her. So, finally, I fixed upon the idea of removing to Iowa. Before deciding this important question, however, I wrote to my intended wife explaining to her the situation and again calling her attention to the uncertainties of the future. As she was two years older than myself I felt that it was hardly justice to her to insist upon our engagement if she felt that my future was too uncertain. I received in answer to this letter a kind a.s.surance that her faith would not fail, and she cited that beautiful pa.s.sage of scripture containing the answer of Ruth to Naomi: "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy G.o.d my G.o.d: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part thee and me."

The spring of 1851 I returned to Kentucky for a short visit, my brother Joseph having loaned me fifty dollars in money and trusted me for a new suit of clothes. In the meantime my father had removed to Millersburg, Kentucky, and commenced teaching there, a branch of what I think was known as Johnson's Military Academy, the princ.i.p.al school being at Blue Licks, Kentucky, in charge of James G. Blaine, afterwards a republican candidate for President of the United States. The lady he afterwards married also a.s.sisted my father, and received visits from Mr. Blaine on Sat.u.r.days and Sundays. It was whilst residing here that my sister Susan became acquainted with your grandfather, William Vimont, whom she married in January, 1853.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Old Stone House on Public Square, Sharpsburg, Md._ Birthplace of Charles Clinton Nourse]

It was the latter part of May, 1851, when I started west "to grow up with the country." We had then no railroads reaching the Mississippi river from the east, and I took the steamer at Louisville, Kentucky, for St. Louis, Missouri. At St. Louis I took the steamer for Iowa, not yet determined as to my landing. The waters of the river were at flood tide, and on our pa.s.sage up we saw frame houses floating past us. I landed in Burlington the last day of May, and stopped at the Barrett House. I was not acquainted with a single person in the state of Iowa, had no relative, kindred, or friend to whom I could apply for advice or a.s.sistance. After a hearty dinner I retired to my room, took a chair, put my feet up on my trunk, and held a consultation with myself. The question before the house was, what to do next. I had with me a general letter of recommendation from Professor Dodd, then president of Transylvania University, and a particular friend of my father, and another from Dr. T. O. Edwards of Lancaster, Ohio, an ex-member of congress from that state, and also my letter as a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and my diploma signed by the law faculty and trustees of Transylvania University. After proper consideration I inquired of the landlord of the hotel where I could find a Methodist preacher, as I was satisfied there must be such a person in the city.

He directed me to the parsonage. I called upon the minister and made his acquaintance, the Reverend Mr. Dennis, who afterwards obtained some notoriety as a pastor in Kansas at the time of the Kansas troubles. He was a tall, white haired man of pleasant countenance and affable manners. I showed him my papers and told him my object in calling upon him was, through him, to make the acquaintance of some of the leading lawyers of the city from whom I could obtain information and determine what part of the state I would attempt to locate in. At that time the supreme court of the state of Iowa was in session in Burlington, consisting of Joseph Williams, Chief Justice, George Greene and John F.

Kinney, justices. Mr. Dennis informed me that the judges were boarding at the same hotel, the Barrett House, and he made an appointment to go with me to their consultation room that afternoon and introduce me. We made the visit and I found the judges of the court very cordial, and at their request I produced my diploma from the law school, told them who I was and where I was from, and that I desired some information in regard to the best possible location for a young attorney. They requested me to call at their courtroom the next morning at the opening of the court, and they would have me admitted to the practice of law in their court and throughout the state. The next morning I went to the court, and at the request of Judge Kinney, Mr. d.i.c.kson, of Keokuk, who was then in attendance at the court, made a motion for my admission to the bar, and suggested the appointment of a committee to examine me as to my qualifications. The Chief Justice announced that an examination was unnecessary--the court had already examined the applicant and was entirely satisfied with his qualifications, and requested me to come forward and take the oath of office, which I did. I made the acquaintance of the clerk of the court, then "Old Timber," as we afterwards called him, his real name being James Woods. That evening Judge Kinney asked me to take a walk with him, and told me he had a brother-in-law, Augustus Hall, living at Keosauqua, Iowa, who was desirous of having a young lawyer a.s.sociated with him in his office, and if I would go to Keosauqua he would give me a letter of introduction. I ascertained that the stage fare to Keosauqua would be six dollars. Upon taking an inventory of my pocket-book I found I only had about eight dollars left of the money my brother had loaned me. I had with me two trunks, one full of my law books, the other containing my clothing, etc. I interviewed the landlord and told him my situation financially, and proposed to him that I would leave my books in his custody as I was still uncertain where I should settle, and leave my bill unpaid, if agreeable to him, until such time as I could send for my books. He readily agreed to the arrangement, but proposed that I should take my books and he would risk my sending the amount of my bill, which, however, I declined to do. The next morning Judge Kinney called me to one side, kindly suggesting that it was not unusual for young men to visit Iowa for the purpose of locating who were short of funds, and he would be glad to loan me a small amount if I would accept it. This kindness I also declined. I had no doubt that he had been advised by the landlord of my situation, and he was kind enough to attempt to help me.

The next morning I took the stage-coach for Keosauqua, but owing to the condition of the roads, and particularly of Skunk river, I was taken to Keokuk where I had to stay all night. After paying my bill the next morning I found I had only twenty cents left. The next day the stage-coach took me to The Divide, as we called it, as far as Utica postoffice in Van Buren county, and there left me. The hack that should have taken me from there to Keosauqua had already gone before our arrival. I could not stay here all night because I had no money to pay any bill, so I left my one trunk in charge of the postoffice to be sent to Keosauqua the next day on the hack, and I started to walk, then about ten miles, to reach Keosauqua. I had not walked far before I found that I had sprained my ankle slightly in jumping from the coach that morning. The walking became very painful, but I managed to reach Keosauqua about sundown that evening. The first building that looked like a hotel or public house was a frame building that stood southeast of the court house. The high waters of the Des Moines river had flooded the lower part of the town, and I found this house was a boarding house, at that time full of guests. I inquired for the lady of the house and took my seat on a bench on the porch near the front door.

Presently the lady of the house appeared, and looking at me very inquiringly wanted to know who I was, where I was from, what was my business, and where I was going. I was a sorry looking subject, having waded through the mud for ten miles, and I presume I looked as I felt--very tired. I gave her my real name, told her I had no business, that I did not know where I was going, and that I had come from Keokuk that day. She told me her house was full and she did not believe she could accommodate me with a night's lodging. I then asked her very politely for permission to remain upon the porch until I was sufficiently rested so I could go further down town and obtain lodging, but I asked her about the town, its population, and about the high waters. The lady turned out to be Mrs. Obed Stannard, the mother of Ed Stannard, afterwards Lieutenant Governor of Missouri, and a very successful business man of St. Louis. She was a good talker, and after conversing with her about twenty minutes I got up to leave, thanking her very cordially for her kindness in permitting me to rest on the porch. She relented and told me she thought if I would stay that she could find accommodations for me. I told her no, that I could not put a lady to any inconvenience when it was unnecessary and I must go, so I left and went down to the front street in the town to the Keosauqua House, kept then by "Father Shepherd," as we always called him, with whom I boarded until after I was married in 1853.

Keosauqua, at that time, as indeed it has been ever since, was a small town of about 1,500 inhabitants, the county seat of Van Buren county, located on the Des Moines river. It possessed one of the best bars of the state, and among its inhabitants were men who afterwards became distinguished in the history of the state. The men more actively engaged in practice were George G. Wright, for many years afterwards a judge of the supreme court of the state, Joseph C. Knapp, judge of the district court of that district and afterwards United States District Attorney, and Augustus Hall, afterwards a member of congress from that district and appointed by Mr. Buchanan United States District Judge in Nebraska. The courts of this county were also visited by J. C. Hall, afterwards one of the judges of the supreme court. The pastor of the Methodist church at that time was Henry Clay Dean, who afterwards became chaplain of the United States Senate, and a notorious political orator. One of his converts was Delizon Smith, who had been an infidel lecturer and prominent politician in the state, and was afterwards elected for a short term to the United States Senate from the state of Oregon. The next year after I settled in Keosauqua, Henry Clay Caldwell, then a student in the law office of Judge Wright, was admitted to the bar, and after the Civil War was appointed United States District Judge and afterwards United States Circuit Judge, being located during his official career as judge at Little Rock, Arkansas, now retired by reason of age and continued service, and residing at Los Angeles, California.