tried, found guilty and served his sentence out in the state penitentiary. Harrison, on the alert, escaped to the western country. Van Arman, I think, was on the side of the prosecution, in this trial.

As a proof of Van Arman's high standing as a lawyer we have only to refer to the celebrated cases, in Michigan, in which he has been leading counsel. In the celebrated railroad conspiracy case, he represented the Michigan Central railroad against Abel Fitch. Mr. Fitch had secured William H. Seward for his counsel. This was a long trial, and drew the attention of the whole country, from the eminence of the counsel engaged in it, and for the great importance attached to the charges brought against the defendant, Abel Fitch. It is not too much to say that it was the masterly manner and great ability he displayed in conducting the prosecution that won this case for his clients. William H. Seward said that Van Arman's final speech on this trial was one of the ablest forensic efforts of the day. He was counsel in the noted trial of White and Ulum for the murder of Estabrook, which was held at Centreville. He was also counsel for Vanderpool in his trial at Kalamazoo, where he was acquitted. Since he has lived in Chicago he has added still fresh laurels to his fame as a great lawyer. But his declining health has, within a few years, interfered much with his legal practice.

HENRY W. TAYLOR.

Henry W. Taylor, another member of the old bar, came to Marshall from Canandaigua, N. Y., some time in the thirties, and, after practicing in Marshall a number of years, returned to his old New York home. He was a good lawyer, but was too much of the old style gentleman to stand the "rough and tumble" of a new country.

DAVID L. JOHNS AND OTHERS.

Mr. Johns came from Ontario county, N. Y., to Marshall, Mich., in 1838, and, after a few years' sojourn, returned to New York.

There were two brothers by the name of Willard, who, about 1839, came to Marshall from Oneida county, N. Y. They were called promising lawyers. They died a few years later in Marshall. Wm. Brown, J. Noyes, P. S. Hewett, Judge Woodruff and J. Wooley are among the old lawyers, who (save Hewett, who died many years ago) are living in Marshall. D. D. Hughes, O'Brien, and Fitzgerald removed from Marshall to Grand Rapids.

John S. Chipman was born about 1800, in Bennington, Vermont, where he was reared and educated. He was a relative of the well known author, Chip

man, who wrote the work on Contracts so much used by the legal fraternity. Amos Chipman, an early settler of Pavilion, Kalamazoo county, was of the same family. John S. Chipman, I have been informed, had a classical education. He must have been thirty eight years old when, in 1838, he came to Michigan, settling in Centerville, St. Joseph county. He was a member of our legislature in 1842, and elected to Congress in 1844. At the expiration of his term in Congress he located at Niles. Some time in 1849 or '50 he removed to San Francisco, California, where he died some twelve years later. From a returned Californian I got the following incidents connected with Chipman's life while in the land of gold: While digging for gold with some fellow miners he learned that one of the miners had a "claim" that was valuable, but it needed a lawyer and money to carry it to the courts and substantiate it. Chipman, not known among his fellow miners as a lawyer, made arrangements with this "claimant" to secure this valnable property for him, on condition that he, if he succeeded, was to have half of it. He then began to work up the case; and soon found, that, in miner's phrase," he had struck a rich lead." He began the suit, carried it to the courts, and won it. His portion, says my informant, would have been called a fortune in Michigan, but he, with his habits of dissipation, amid the temptations of California life, soon lost it all.

S. C. Coffinbury says of him: "Mr. Chipman was a remarkable man. In person he was tall and straight, above six feet high and slender. His head was large, complexion very dark, hair black, straight and thick, forehead low and broad; his eye dark and piercing; his appearance was that of an Indian sachem. You will see at once why he was universally called "Black Chip." He was a natural orator. His presence was commanding and impressive. His oratory was more forcible than pleasing; his metaphors and figures bold and clear, but coarse and impractical. He was apt to lash himself into a fury of eloquence, and, like an angry lion, lacerate himself and his auditors by his own violence of language, of which he had great command in contentious debate. He was quick tempered and impatient under antagonism. His words contained not only ideas but feelings likewise, consequently he was wont to inebriate himself, if not his listeners, by means of passionate language. In private intercourse Chipman was a man of great dignity and courtesy, until his habits of life became impaired by means of his immoral conduct. His legal education was good; he ranked high as an advocate, but as an orator his powers were more versatile. He tried cases with a good deal of legal ability, and as a counselor stood high with the members of the bar. He became a politician and democrat from conscientious convictions, and his ascendancy as a politician was marked by his declination as a lawyer, as well

as morally and socially." From the late Judge J. F. Littlejohn I received the following estimate of Chipman: "He was a man of strong elements of character. His notions were often erratic and visionary. His impulses gave the hue and complexion to both motive and conduct. His eloquence before public assemblies was at times of a high order; but its effect was frequently obscured by reckless assertions, and inconsequent deductions. His moral faculties were not properly developed." This portraiture agrees substantially with that drawn by Mr. Coffinbury. Chipman had in him all the passion and enthusiasm of the orator. Listening to one of his eloquent speeches was like reading from one of Cooper's novels. You were moved by the startling incident, the grand description, the dauntless spirit, and thrilling passages and scenes in which the speaker seemed the hero in real life. Chipman had something of the stern bearing and dignity of Chatham; something of Burke's love of the sublime; combined with these were the immoralities of a Wilkes.

I was in the democratic convention at Kalamazoo in 1844, that nominated "Black Chip" for Congress. After the nomination he was "called out." As he stepped upon the rostrum, and looked upon the convention that had so honored him, he caught the inspiration for the occasion. In his speech he defined liberty. As the thought occurred to him his face lighted up, and who that saw him can forget his words, look, gesture, as he exclaimed, "Whence came liberty?" A pause, as he looked upward, and, in language as poetical and grand as Drake's on "The old Flag," he gave the answer in a magnificent burst of eloquence. Tumultuous applause greeted him as he finished his speech and thanked the convention for the great honor they had conferred upon him. His misfortunes in speech were sometimes more than metaphorical. When he said, in his speech in Congress, that "Education was at war with democracy," the expression was caught up and repeated all over the land, and soon came echoing back from "across the waters." Blackwood's Magazine, never at any time liking us, after giving a graphic description of our Congress, in a critical paper on "The Model Republic," and, after enumerating the leading statesmen in our national council, Webster, Clay, Calhoun and John Quincy Adams, the Nestor of this model republic, the article closed with the dramatic performance of a "rude western member, who exclaimed in a grandiloquent speech- Education is at war with democracy!"" to which the editor added, "Magnifique-superbe--PRETTY WELL!" No one who ever saw "Black Chip" in debate, when fully excited by the enemy's fire, can forget his remarkable appearance. At such times he was imperious, overbearing and defiant. I saw him in such a mood at the Centreville bar, in 1848, Judge Osborne presiding. H. H. Riley, of Constantine,

then "on his first legs" as prosecutor for St. Joseph county, had taken a bold position against him in a suit they were trying. At this, "Chip" in all his stern dignity, addressed the court on the law in the case. Riley resolutely and ably maintained his position. The old barrister grew furious at being held in check by "this stripling in law," and, turning to the court, he exclaimed, "Am I, your honor, an old veteran, grown gray at the bar, to step aside and yield to the dictum of this upstart!" Nothing could equal the look of mingled scorn and defiance with which he said this. But Riley was not cowed by it. He then showed that he had in him the material of which lawyers are made. And when he thus, single handed, defiantly bearded the old lion in his den, we thought he had won his professional " 'spurs" in thus withstanding the most formidable foe he would ever meet at the bar of western Michigan. Riley, I think, gained the suit.

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'Tis said that the lawyers in the olden time who lost their case in court, were accustomed to go over to the nearest tavern, and "take it out" in swearing at the judge, and abusing the opposing counsel. Black Chip, when he was defeated in court, used to take it out "by swearing at" the judge on the spot. He hated Judge At the close of a trial before him at Centreville, after having worked himself into a frenzy of feeling, he took a stand at the door of the court room, and waited for the decision from the bench. The decision came adverse to him. He, on hearing it, gave a fierce glance at the judge, and exclaimed in bitter, sarcastic tone, "The devil!" and instantly walked out of the room.

At another time this judge's rulings against him had so excited him that he arose in his anger, and, addressing the court, said: "Now, by way of illustrating the point at issue, we will suppose that your honor is a d-fool." The judge, indignant, called him to order. Chipman turning to the court, with an imperious tone replied: "I know that I am out of order, but I was merely supposing that your honor was a d-- fool," when the judge, exasperated beyond endurance, declared that he would fine him for contempt of court. But he did not.

The following will illustrate his impatience. An old man remarkable for his piety and parsimony consulted "Chip" professionally. Getting the pith of the matter he informed the old gentleman that his case had no merit. The latter still argued that he had a good case. Finally, the old barrister losing all patience with this would-be-client, indignantly retorted, "I have told what the law is, and that you have no cause of action, and have told you truly. Now, Gd you, give me ten dollars, and I will manage as you want, and commence suit for you!"

The Kalamazoo county bar was distinguished for its able lawyers. I have

often seen its leading members pitted against those of the Marshall bar, as well as those from the Allegan, St. Joseph and Berrien county bars. This old forum has been the arena where many of the most important trials in western Michigan have taken place. Here Gordon, Bradley, Pratt and Van Arman have met Stuart, Balch, Belcher, Clark and Mower in legal conflict. Here Littlejohn, "Black Chip," Bacon and Dana have broken many a lance with some member of the old Kalamazoo bar. The surviving members of the old bar are Stuart, Balch and Breese.

The lawyers who came here in the territorial days were men of adventurous spirit and sound legal ability. Chief among them were John Hascall, Lyman I. Daniels, Jeremiah Humphrey and Cyrus Lovell. The pioneer lawyer's first practice was before his honor, the justice of the peace, and it continued there till the district or circuit courts were established. The justice courts were usually held in log houses, and although as a rule there "was no superiority of law or learning, justice was substantially administered." Five dollars was the accustomed fee for a lawyer, and this was often paid in "dicker," as money could not always be obtained even by those rich in lands. And the technicalities of law were held to with somewhat less veneration than what was regarded as the essential claims of justice. Judge Ransom's advice to his brother Roswell, who was a territorial justice of the peace, was, "Avail yourself of all the clear law that you may have or can get, in regard to the matter at issue, and all that the lawyers on either side may bring out, but, whatever that may be, much or little, always stick to the facts and the common sense of the case, and you invariably will come to the most just conclusion." In fact, our pioneer justices were relieved from their lack or limitation of legal lore by relying on their own good sense and that of the jury to carry the case through right. A corrupt jury was a thing unheard of in the pioneer days. The infirmities of the jury system had not set in, and hence no difficulty was experienced from it, as a stern sense of justice not only prevailed among the early settlers of the state, but also in the court room, and largely governed the conduct of the lawyers who, thus restrained, did not descend to the mere technical arts of their profession, but took rather the broad ground of justice and right.

GOVERNOR EPAPHRODITUS RANSOM.

Epaphroditus Ransom was born in 1799, in Hampshire county, Mass., but removed when young, with his father's family, to Windham county, Vt. He was educated at Chester Academy, and read law with Peter B. Taft. He graduated from the law school at Northampton, Mass., in 1825, and went into practice in Windham county, Vt. He was twice elected to the Vermont