Chapter 18 cont. JUDGE GRANT'S KNIFE. Elihu B. Washburn, in a sketch of Edward Coles, the second governor of Illinois, gives a bit of Iowa experience that sound rather singular at this day.  Mr. Washburn was fresh from staid, sober New England in the spring of 1840, when he attended a term of court held at Maquoketa, the seat of goverment of Jackson county.  This community, like many frontier settlements, was afflicted with gang of rustlers, counterfeiters and horse thieves which the newly organized courts found to be difficult to deal with effectually.  So the people had just arisen en mass and driven out the gang of counterfeiters in a fierce fight in which seven men were killed.  The whole community was greatly excited and every man was armed.  Mr. Washburn says:  "I stopped at the tavern which had been kept by W. W. Brown, alleged leader of the gang, and who had been killed in the doorway of his home.  My roommate was Judge James Grant, of Davenport, who has been for nearly a half century one of the most distinguished citizens and lawyers of Iowa.  When we were about to retire what was my amazement to see my roommate, whom I had never met before, draw out from the back of his coat an immense bowie knife and place it under his pillow.  When abroad I wrote a letter to a friend in regard to the incident and described Judge Grant's bowie knife as being three feet long.  The letter got into the newpaper.  The Judge wrote me a letter to Paris denying my statement and asserting the knife he had on that occasion was only two feet long." The following amusing incident is related by Judge Joseph Williams:  "I received my commission as judge of the territory of Iowa while in Pennsylvania.  The first court I held was in Cedar county.  Some one placed a large split-bottom chair under a spreading burr oak and I sat down to settle the county seat.  I picked out the longest, leanest, lankiest, ugliest looking man in the crowd for sheriff.  He had a long beard and when his mouth was closed no opening was visible, and when he spoke it looked like a hole in a buffalo hide.  The grand jury sat down on the ground on the right and the petit jury on the left.  I impaneled the former, swore the sheriff to do his duty and sent them off to work.  The bailiff took the jury to a large rail pen and herded them in.  They were about to indict a man for stealing hogs when a Dutchman squealed, 'I don't agree!'  At these words an Irishman, springing to his feet and pulling off his coat, said:  'I'll make you agree!'  and commenced pegging the Dutchman.  The bailiff came running to me saying:  'Judge, Judge, the jury are all fighting.'  I went down, kicked open the fence and sent them home, saying:  'I would not have the county disgraced.'  When I was in Jones county I was led into a slough where the grass was as high as my head.  A chair was placed for me and I sat down and then they told me that was the county seat.  I impaneled the grand jury, after which they were taken down the slough to commence work.  I was preparing the petit jury for work when the bailiff of the grand jury came slipping up close to me and then hallooed:  'Judge, is it right to have anybody sneaking?'  I did not know that he meant and so inquired, and when I understood, said:  'No, no, have a picket guard placed at a certain distance to keep all sneakers off.'" In March, 1882, the legislature passed an act providing that the terms of the supreme court, which had been held in Davenport, Dubuque and Council Bluffs, should be transferred to Des Moines.  Thereafter the court should hold its sessions at the state capital.  At one time the sittings of this court at Davenport were fully as important as those held at Des Moines, for the annual terms of the court were held in these two cities.  This court at Davenport was established in 1858 by action of the seventh general assembly.  One great inducement for the location of the court at Davenport was the existence here of the celebrated Grant law library, which was at that time the greatest and most valuable in the state, and to which through the generosity of Judge Grant, the bar not only of Scott county, but visiting lawyers had free access.  Another reason for establishing the court here, and it may have been considered an excellent one, was the splendid hotel accommodations.  Judge Grant, as was his nature, offered every courtesy to the court and in rooms over his office on Main street he provided commodious quarters for its sittings.  The court convened promptly after the passage of the act.  The first Monday in the following April found the clerk here ready for the initial session, but all of the judges were not present and an adjournment was therefore taken until the following day, when the court was fully organized.  George G. Wright, of Keosauqua, was chief justice; William C. Woodward, of Muscatine, and L. D. Stockwell, of Burlington, associate justices; Lewis Kinsey, of DesMoines, clerk; Samuel A. Rice, of Oskaloosa, attorney-general, and William Penn Clark, of Des Moines, reporter.  A large number of lawyers were present. The first case held in Davenport concerned a new charter which had been granted the city of Davenport at the term of legislature then nearing its close.  The provision of the new charter which was to take the place of the special charter granted under the old constitution arranged for a party of aldermen of twelve, which was to be reinforced by a council of six, each councilman to be ex-officio justice of the peace.  The act which granted the new charter was declared unconstitutional because under the consititution which at that time existed special legislation for any town was forbidden.  This court continued at Davenport about twelve years.  Twice a year a six weeks' term would be held and attorneys from thirty-two counties, then a major part of the central portions of the state, would come to Davenport and remain for several days, sometimes bringing their wives with them.  This made gay times for the Burtis House, especially during the years of the war, when Davenport was military headquarters with its four military camps.  In fact, all the attorneys in this part of the state came to this city, where they realized they were near the seat of greatest interest in Iowa.  It was about 1870 when sessions of the court were established at Dubuque, and the Davenport district was reduced to nine counties:  Scott, Cedar, Clinton, Johnson, Iowa, Muscatine, Louisa, Washington and Keokuk.  Eventually the terms dwindled from five and six weeks to a week, and then four days, and then ceased to exist in Davenport in 1881. Debbie Clough G-erischer G-erischer Family Web Site http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/ Assistant CC, Iowa Gen Web, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ List Manager for: IASCOTT-L * G-erischer-L * D-encker-L Fitzpatirck-L * V-lerebome-L * Huntington-L * Otis-L * Algar-L EIGS-L * Pickens-L * McNab-L * Patris-L - Rankin-L