Pioneers of Marion County by Wm. M. Donnel, 1872

Chapter XI

List of County Commissioners - Probate Judges - County Judges - County Supervisors and County Treasurers -
The Stanfield Defalcation - Robbery of the Treasury in 1867.

Before closing the political history of our county, it would be proper to give a list of some of the officers who were elected subsequently to the first whose names have already been given.

It was stated that when the term of the first board of county commissioners had expired, the terms of the succeeding members were regulated by the comparative number of votes polled for each at the election by which they were chosen. As three were required to constitute the board, it was enacted that the one who received the highest number of votes at the regular election in August, 1846, should serve three years, the next highest two, and the lowest one, so that a new member would be elected yearly. After the county was divided into commissioners’ districts, as has been described, a member was elected form one or another of these districts yearly, so that no district elected a commissioner oftener than once in three years, thus keeping a quorum of two experienced members constantly in office.

At the first regular election, Hugh Glenn and Samuel Tibbett were elected to fill the places of Conrad Walters and Wm. Welch, David Durham holding over another year.

August, 1847, Thomas Pollock in Place of Mr. Durham.
August, 1848, Martin Neel, in place of Hugh Glenn.
August, 1849, Miles Jordan in place of Thomas Pollock.
August, 1850, James M. Brous, in place of Samuel Tibbett.

In 1851 the commissioner system was abolished and substituted by the office of county judge, as will be further noticed after we have given a list of probate judges, as follows:

September, 1845, (special election), Francis A. Barker.
August, 1847, Claiborn Hall.
August, 1849, Thomas Collins.
August, 1850, Warren D. Everett.

In 1851 the office of probate judge and county commissioners were abolished by an act of the legislature, and both merged into that of county judge, and the following is a list from that to the present date:

Joseph Brobst, elected August, 1851; re-elected in 1853.
F. M. Frush, elected August, 1855: re elected in 1857 and held the office till January 01, 1861.
Wm. B. Young, elected October, 1861; re-elected October, 1863, and held the office till January, 1866.
Joseph Brobst, elected October, 1865, re-elected October, 1867, and held the office till January, 1869, when the office was repealed* and substituted by that of circuit judge.

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*By this act Judge Brobst was appointed ex-officio auditor till January 1, 1870.
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By an act of the legislature, the office of county supervisor was created to assume the duties previously performed by the county judge. One member elected form each township constituted a board of supervisors The first board was elected on the second Tuesday of October, 1860, and held their first session on the first Monday of January following.

John B. Hamilton was then clerk of the district court, and, by virtue of his office, was also clerk of the board of supervisors.

The first business of the board was to regulate the terms of its members, so that half the number should be limited to one year, and the other half to two years; but as there were fifteen members, the odd number was placed in the list of short terms. The clerk prepared the ballots, and the members drew as follows:

Names	Townships	Term
Joseph Brobst	Knoxville	2 years
Wm. P. Cowman	Perry	1 year
D. F. Smith	Franklin	1 year
H. R. Clingman	Dallas	1 year
Wm. Blain	Union	2 years
Geo. W. Martin	Polk	2 years
Daniel Sherwood	Indiana	2 years
John F. Baldwin	Summit	1 year
Edwin Baker	Red Rock	2 years
Joseph Clark	Clay	1 year
J. B. Davis	Liberty	2 years
E. F. Grafe	Lake Prairie	2 years
Bromfield Long	Washington	1 year
J. A. Logan	Swan	1 year
J. Thornburg	Pleasant Grove	1 year

The following is a list of county treasurers from the organization of the county till the present date, - 1870:

David T. Durhom, elected September, 1845; re-elected August, 1846, and served till August, 1847. Isaac Walters, from August, 1847, to 1849, and re-elected from that until 1851. Claiborn Hall, 1852 and 1853. David Stanfield, 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857. William Ellis, 1858, 1859, 1860, and 1861. A. H. Vierson, 1862 and 1863. Emery F. Sperry, 1864 and 1865; during which term Edwin Baker served as deputy. William T. Cunningham, 1866, and 1867. Edwin Baker, 1868, 1869, 1870 and 1871.

During this period the treasury suffered twice from robbery; the first time by defalcation at the close of Stanfield’s second term; and the second time by burglary, during the second year of Cunningham’s term. The history of the first is briefly as follows:

At the August election, in 1847, Mr. Stanfield being a candidate for a third term, was defeated, and his successor (as the custom then was) entered upon the discharge of the duties of his office as soon as the result of the election was known; and on settling up the affairs of the office a default of $4,546.20 was discovered. So soon as the discovery was made he was arrested,* and an indictment was found against him at the September term of the district court. Upon this, judgment was rendered against him and his securities for the amount. Of this amount, his assignee, C. G. Brobst, paid into the treasury in cash, notes, and judgment $2,206.93, leaving a balance of $2,339.27 due the county.

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*Since the publication of the above statement we have been reliably informed that Mr. Stanfield was not arrested.
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Mr. Stanfield seemed profoundly ignorant of the manner in which the loss occurred, and persistently denied his participation in it; and as the affair was, to some extent, a mystery, many persons doubted his guilt, and some even believed him entirely innocent. It was for some time a subject of a severe partizan warfare of words, in which the Journal and Standard participated vigorously, firing weekly volleys of hot shot into each other’s camp, without, however, gaining any apparent advantage for either side

In October of the same year, Mr. Stanfield moved to Kansas, where, late in the fall, or during the winter, he was followed and visited by Doctor Patterson and James Walters, who on their return reported that they had found him living in almost extreme poverty, apparently confirming the truth of his plea of innocence. In consequence of these facts, no attempt was made to prosecute the case further; and, in 1867, in response to a petition of a majority of the citizens of the county, the board of supervisors released the bondsmen of David Stanfield from their liability, thus finally ending the trouble.

The second robbery was one of much greater magnitude, and proved a total loss. It occurred on Saturday night of February 9th, 1867, or very early on the following morning, but was not discovered till about 8 o’clock, when it produced a sensation quite unusual for the time and place.

It was known that the treasury contained a large sum, and it was at first supposed that it had all been taken, and exciting stories of the robbery, - the manner in which it was effected, and the magnitude of loss, - were verbally reported through the county before the facts were fully ascertained. For a detailed account of the affair, we quote the following from the Marion County Republican, of February 12, 1867:

“On Saturday night last, the office of the county treasurer, at the court house, in this place, was entered and robbed of all the money in it, which amounted to over forty thousand dollars. The burglars, in the first place, broke into Mr. Reed’s blacksmith shop and helped themselves to all the tools they required. They entered the treasurer’s office through a window that was very insecurely fastened. By the side of the door of the vault they removed a few bricks, which enabled them, with the aid of a cold chisel, to reach the bolt and drive it back, thus opening the door. The safe in the vault was purchased, during the last year, for sixteen hundred dollars. The burglars broke the knob off the door of the safe, cut into the lock, opened the door, and took the funds. The most that was taken belonged to the school fund of the county. Mr. Dan Smick, of Knoxville, loses over $1,600, which he had placed there for safety. A portion of the funds was owned by the State.

“The robbery was discovered about 8 o’clock Sunday morning and caused a great deal of excitement among our citizens all day long, hundreds visiting the court house. Prompt action was taken to find the robbers. Different persons were sent out to spread the news and place officers of the law on the watch. As it was impossible for the scoundrels to take the benefit of the railroad until yesterday, we trust they may be speedily overhauled, and the stolen funds recovered.

“The board of supervisors was called together yesterday.”

The following additional particulars we quote from the same article:

“The knob was first knocked off, then a portion of the chilled iron under it cut out. Heavy blows were next struck exactly in the right place to loosen the bolts or break the fastenings, so heavy as to break the steel facing of the sledge used. Both of these operations, which we have imperfectly described, had the effect to loosen the bolts. Chisels were then used to pry open the door, which, unfortunately, was accomplished. The burglar, or burglars, seemed to know just what was requisite to do in order to accomplish their object. The one who made the safe could not have gone to work more scientifically, or with a better understanding of what was necessary to be done.

After a more critical examination of the amount taken, the losses of the various funds were found to be as follows:

School fund	$20,000.00
State fund	3,600.83
County fund	2,100.50
Bridge fund	3,300.48
Poor house fund	2,276.74
Insane fund	1,193.26
Making a total of	$ 32,471.81

As some circumstances connected with the robbery seemed, in the opinion of a majority of the board, to indicate the Treasurer’s connec ion with it, they ordered his arrest, employed an attorney for the county, and sent to New York for a detective to examine the safe, and make such discoveries as might lead to the arrest of the robbers.

A preliminary examination of Mr. Cunningham’s case came off during this called session of the board; and, as some of the evidence seemed to lead to his conviction, his case was left for the investigation of the grand jury for the March term of the district court.

In the mean time, some parties had employed a young man who claimed to have been an army detective, to ferret the matter out. Actuated by a hope of the large reward, he secured the arrest of a man named William D’Armoud, who had been a citizen of Knoxville for a short time, and had moved to --------- county soon after the robbery. Mr. D’Armond was brought to Knoxville and then sent to the Oskaloosa jail for a few weeks, to await his trial. The trial was had before Justice Kenedy, in Knoxville, and occupied about two days. M. V. Bennett was for the State, and J. B. Atherton for the defense, by both of whom the case was warmly contested; but the trial resulted in the acquittal of D’Armond.

A bill was found against Mr. Cunningham at the March term, whereupon he took a change of venue to Monroe county. Here, however, the State failed to get its witnesses at the time set for trial and the case was discontinued. After this, the board employed attorneys to investigate the matter, and sue on the bonds for whatever amount they supposed they could sustain an action upon. But, after investigating, they came to the conclusion that the evidence against Mr. C. was not sufficient to justify an attempt at prosecution. So the case was finally dismissed.

The great loss sustained by the county in this affair, together with the expenses of employing detectives, attorneys, the purchase of a new safe, &c., proved quite embarrassing for a time. It was at first thought advisable to issue bonds and obtain a loan for the benefit of those funds that were in the most pressing demand, particularly the school and bridge. But this was not done. Warrants were given on claims on which the county paid interest, and many of these were bought by speculators at a profitable discount. In due time, however, by strict economy, and promptness in the payment of taxes, the finances of the county so far improved as to bring her warrants to par before three years, and the whole machinery is now in as flourishing condition as it was before the robbery.

Our limits will hardly permit a full list of all the county officers who were elected and served from 1845 to the present date; nor do we deem such a list of much historical importance in a work more especially designed to record the early history of the county. Hence, we have named the incumbents of such offices as seemed to be of leading importance in the transaction of county affairs. We therefore proceed with the more legitimate thread of our narrative.

Transcribed by Mary E. Boyer, 11/06, reformatted by Al Hibbard 12 Oct 2013.