Marshal County - Plymouth, IN - Courthouses on Waymarking.com

Taken from "the History of Marshall County - 1908" by Daniel McDonald. - Its really kind of interesting to hear of the day the corner stone of this old courthouse was laid....

In 1872 the present courthouse was completed and the several county officers moved into the various rooms assigned to them. It is an elegant brick and stone structure, complete in all its parts; with all the offices fireproof, and the courtroom, halls, offices and jury rooms beautifully frescoed.

The plans and specifications were prepared by G. P. Randall, of Chicago and accepted by the board of county commissioners, consisting of Hiram A. Rank, Jonas Miller and Henry Krause, and the contract let to Epperson and Favorite, of La Fayette, under whose direction the work was commenced in April, 1870, and from that time on was pushed vigorously.



On the twenty-fifth of August the cornerstone of the building was laid with appropriate and imposing ceremonies. The following was the program of exercises prepared by the committee :



1. Music by the Fort Wayne band.

2. Invocation by Rev. George H. Thayer, of Bourbon.

3. "Song, "Oh, Hail Us, Ye Free," by the Glee Club.

4. Laying the cornerstone, by Grand Master Martin H. Rice.

5. Song, I've Meet Upon the Level, by the Glee Club.

6. Address by Hon. Charles H. Reeve.

7. German song, by the German Glee Club.

8. Music by Nevins & Dean's band, of Chicago.

9. Anvil Chorus, Plymouth Silver Cornet band and Glee club, under direction of Daniel

McDonald.

10. Music by Bremen band.

11. Music by Warsaw band.

12. Doxology, by all the bands and audience.

13. Benediction by Rev. L. C. Buckles.



The editor of the Voice of Masonry, Chicago, being present, gave among other things the following in regard to "the day's doings:"



One of the many interesting incidents of the day was a dinner, provided for the Masonic bodies by the citizens and Masonic body in Plymouth, before the ceremonies of the day, in the beautiful grove of trees belonging to the seminary, in which the ladies of Plymouth acquitted themselves admirably in all the arrangements to supply the wants of the inner man. The provisions were ample and most excellent, while the abundant supply of Iced crystal water, and splendid coffee, was such as to indicate that the ladies of Plymouth know how to keep an open-air hotel to perfection. May they often be employed in a like good work, which we need not say we should be happy to witness.

In reviewing the accomplishment of the exercises upon the program, We deem it a duty and pleasure to note the excellencies of, indeed, all concerned; especially, however, we may remark that the No. 1 music by the Fort Wayne band was a credit to the musical talent of the band, and exhibited great proficiency and beauty in the piece executed we did not learn its name. The glee club also did splendidly for an open air concert, which is always a great difficulty to keep in time and harmony. In that beautiful song, however, of Brother Past Grand Master Rob Morris, of Kentucky, which will render his name immortal, "We meet upon the level, and part upon the square," they were sublime. Brother A. C. Thompson, of Plymouth, sang the solo with great feeling, perfect harmony and in a key that sent the sentiments thrilling through every heart.' Again, in the Anvil Chorus by this club, under the direction of Daniel McDonald, aided by the Plymouth Silver Cornet band, the music was rendered in a manner unsurpassed, while the silver chimes on the half dozen anvils were most beautifully smitten, in time and tune. The local bands of Bremen and Warsaw were also in excellent time, order and beauty. As to the Chicago band of twenty pieces (Nevins & Dean's Band), who that knows what they are capable of will be otherwise than convinced that they discoursed music hardly surpassed by any band in existence.



Hon; A. L. Osborn, of LaPorte, who was then judge of the Marshall circuit court, had been selected by the committee as orator of the day, but owing to sickness was unable to attend, Hon. Charles H. Reeve, the oldest member of the Marshall county bar, was then selected "on the spur of the moment," and although he had but a few hours to prepare what he had to say, made a splendid effort, which will last in the memory of the people until the cornerstone itself shall crumble to dust. Since then the distinguished C. H. Reeve has passed over the mystic river to the great beyond, and it seems fitting that at least a portion of this address, which contains much food for thought for the present and future generations, as a memorial to his name and fame should be given. After a few preliminary remarks he said:

“The people of Marshall county have met to lay the cornerstone structure, which will be their temple of justice, and within which must be kept the records of her whole history, past and future, and where must be transacted all the business relating to her people and their prosperity. Her representative business men must sit here to hold intercourse with other municipalities like herself, with the state, and with all individuals having public business within her borders; and from the impression made by them must go abroad the opinions of men as to the capacity of the people to govern themselves. The extensive interests involved in her administration, and the important duties demanded by mankind, so far as they affect her people center here; and from here must emanate in wisdom or folly. that kind of administration of public affairs which will make her people prosperous and wise, or bring them burdens and ignorance, and offer great inducements, or none at all, for capital or intelligence to make their home with her. The management of schools and the funds to maintain them ; the valuation of property; the levy of taxes; the collection of and accounting for the public money; the care of the poor; the directions for public improvements ; the provisions for the safekeeping of persons charged with crimes; the preservation of the records of the titles to property; the administration of justice at the hands of the ministers of the law all will have their center here, and from here will go out the reputation that shall make her fame-good or bad. It is fitting, then, that the chief cornerstone of this temple shall be laid with ceremonies, amid scenes and in presence of witnesses that shall constitute the act an era in the county's history; and it is an occasion when eloquence could give utterance to thoughts in words which would leave impressions on the memory not to be forgotten.



"That ancient craft, organized when the glory of Israel's inspired king filled the known world with fame in the erection of that wondrous temple their hands created in all its magnificence, and whose order now is found in every land beneath the sun, have laid the cornerstone of almost every public building in the land, and here, today, with their imposing ceremonies, lay down for us the corner of this structure, in which shall hereafter center so many vital interests of our people. Within that stone now lies a synopsis of the record of her history to this day. There are names of men---0ur sometime public servants who have long since gone down the dusty road on the march to the home of the dead, and their busy minds, which once sat here in judgment for us, have ceased to think and plan. For each of them, 'the dome of thought, the temple of the soul,' has crumbled back to dust; but their names live here, and 'their works do follow them.' Time shall crumble the walls to be here erected. We shall be where those dead servants are, and our names shall not be known; but in the long years yet to come, nations who come after us may find these records and these names here deposited, and thus are formed the links in the great chain of history which binds the past to the ever-existing present.

"Here, too, for us as well as those to come, is food for thought. Only thirty years ago, and we numbered 126 voters; now we number 6,309! Then our whole population was only 630; now it is about 25,000. Then we had only $461,000 of taxables supposing the valuation to be one-third-and that mostly in wild lands owned by non-residents; now we have nearly $15,000,000, owned mostly by residents. Then we had no rail- roads, no telegraphs, no church buildings, few and widely scattered log schoolhouses, no educational system or public funds to sustain one; now see the contrast, and realize that nearly all the vast improvements that bring all the world together in a week-a day-an hour have principally emanated from the minds of American citizens, and are the legitimate out-growth of that system of government of, which our counties form a part.


"See here today the thousands assembled, who, a few short hours ago, were at their homes long miles away, and in a few hours hence will be there again, moving all the time with the ease and comfort of an afternoon visit at the residence of some friend; again, behold the contrast. These men whose names we have preserved beneath that stone in their day would have been weeks, by rude conveyance and camping out, in making such a round.

"Ah me! well I remember all their faces. And I remember, too, many of the faces of the wild Indians among whom they came to open up the wilderness that has given place to all this civilization we now enjoy. I knew these men, and how they lived. And I saw the red men and their wives and children torn from their homes here by the soldiers and driven from the graves of their fathers, almost in sight of this spot where I now stand, by the sharp bayonet of the soldier, leaving the land for us.

" And all these names of the early judges and members ,of the bar- how their forms and faces now come back to me! The Invincible, punning Everts; the English-like judge, S. C. Sample; the Websterian-Looking , Liston ; the wily Jernegan, the eloquent Hannegan; the scholarly Bradley; the scientific Niles; the witty Orton; I cannot pause to name them all, but their faces rise up before me as they were. Some live yet; some have gone to visit 'that bourn whence no traveler returns.' But they were with us and of us; and no portion of the state, or of any state, has seen better lawyers, truer men, or, as a class, those who have left a better record. Peace to the ashes of those who are gone; a serene and prosperous old age to those who are left! It makes me sad to go back in memory to those early days and note the havoc made by death, It makes me proud to note the progress made within the space upon which these men have left the impress of their actions and their thoughts. Within the walls here to be erected, no pro founder logic, no more thrilling eloquence, no more sparkling wit, will e'er be heard than has fallen from their lips-now cold in the silent chambers of the dead!

"But the living claim our attention. Here before us is the foundation, and about us are the materials and the workmen; what shall come of it ? A beautiful and substantial structure, to battle with time and with the elements. .For what use ? The administration of public justice, the protection of private rights, the punishment for public wrongs, ,the preservation of the public records. Who shall inhabit here ? The servants of the people. By what rule shall they be selected ? Because of their fitness, both as to capacity and moral integrity, let us hope. What a trust is here ! Shall we ever have a Jeffries on the bench ? God forbid! Shall Justice sit blindfolded, while Ignorance, in the person of her minister, the judge, directs her to strike right or left with her sword, without regard to the right or without the ability to see which is right ? Heaven forbid! Shall public opinion, founded on rumor, walk into the jury box and dictate the verdict without regard to evidence ? May a just system of education make it impossible. How shall we insure the non-pollution of this temple and make it the fit home for justice to dwell in? By being just ourselves, and fit to be her ministers. By rejecting demagogues. By respecting the law and its ministers, and by making them respect us. By refusing to select them in party or political caucus, and by selecting the purest and most competent men we have, and then paying them a salary sufficient to command their attention to our call for their services, and pension them when they have served till they are old. By crushing, with the contempt of an outraged public, the men who enter the political arena to use its contaminating influences to reach the bench. Above all, having, as a people, permitted such a system to be inaugurated, and many of our good men to be dragged within its action against their sense of right, let us do away with it at the earliest possible moment, and recognize the fact-as patent as sunlight-that cheap salaries command cheap men, and cheap men will degrade justice and bring the law into contempt; the Lex- Talionis - the mother of anarchy-follows.

"May no such fate follow the imposing ceremonies of this day. May no such contamination pollute the beautiful structure whose cornerstone has this day been laid. May our judges be wise lawyers and honorable gentlemen, and may our people recognize their right to commensurate respect and compensation. May our county offices be always filled by the best men we have who are best fitted for the stations to be filled. May our prosperity continue and our county become the home of still greater intelligence, industry and enterprise, and may the reputation of her public men be such as to bring to us the wealth and intelligence from abroad which would seek a resting place only amid an honorable people, whose public servants can be safely trusted with the public interests, and where courts and the law are respected."


"Be it remembered, that, on the eleventh day of June, 1872, the records, books and papers of the several county offices were moved into the new courthouse, just completed at a cost of $105,000.

Judge Thomas S; Stanfield, of South Bend, presided at the first term of court held in the new building, and Daniel K. Harris, sheriff, first opened court therein with the usual "Hear ye! hear ye! hear ye! the honorable Marshall circuit court is now in session, pursuant to adjournment, and all persons having business herein can now be heard." .

The entire cost of the building, including furniture, heating apparatus, grading the square, and superintendency, was $105,000 ; and the entire county indebtedness for the same was, at date of completion, only $50,000, for which bonds had been issued and sold at par, which, two years later, were fully paid.

Year Built: 1870-1872 Current Use of Building: Courthouse Level of Courts: County Architect: G. P. Randall Dates this building was used to house judicial proceedings: August 5, 1872 - Present Related Website: [Web Link] Physical Address: Not listed Hours: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
At least one original photograph should be added to the gallery. And please describe your impressions and visit to the courthouse.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/26/2011 DnRseekers visited it