When Sabine parish was established the state constitution provided for what were known as parish courts. The first record of this court in Sabine is dated July 3, 1843. William R. D. Speight was judge, and S. S. Eason, clerk.
This court had jurisdiction in probate matters. In 1851 Williamson Mains applied to the court to be appointed administrator of the estate of William Mains, deceased. John Davis and John Buvens were named as appraisers of the estate. In 1856 Samuel Webb was appointed administrator of the succession of James Webb, Mary Ann Beddingfield as administratrix for the succession of William Beddingfield, and Ann Pullen for the succession of John Pullen. The Pullen estate was appraised at $13,728 and embraced seven slaves valued at from $200 to $1,000 each. During this year Daniel R. Gandy was appointed administrator of the succession of Nancy Gandy, his deceased wife, the estate embracing 160 acres of land, mules, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep and nine slaves. L. J. Nash was administrator of the succession of L. B. Gay, and Elizabeth Gay was appointed tutrix of the minor heirs, William Hannibal, Mary Eveline, Caroline Elizabeth, Felix Crittenden, Victoria Lavina and Bennett Gay. In 1859 Silas Sandell was administrator of the succession of Darius and Louise Sandell, the appraisers of the estate being Daniel Ball and W. W. Conerly. Marcellus Branch was administrator of the estate of Julia Branch. In 1862 Daniel R. Gandy was appointed administrator of the succession of his wife, Louise Janie, and tutor of their minor children, Nancy Jane, John Wiley, Frances Eugenia and Rufus Sibley Gandy. Other successions recorded in the journal of the parish court in 1862 were those of Susan Vanshoebrook (Louis Vanshoebrook, administrator), William Cook (Jesse Wright, administrator).
Late in the ’50s the parish court was abolished, and a short time afterwards Judge Speight was killed by G. Landrum on the streets of Many. The court was re-established in 1868 with M. D. Edmunson judge. W. W. McNeely was judge from 1871 to 1877. He was succeeded by J. C. Armstrong, who presided until 1880 when the court was abolished.
The first session of district court in Sabine parish was held in December, 1843, with George R. King of the Tenth district presiding. The following citizens were members of the grand jury: Henry Hall, Robert Brown, Nicholas Jacks, Thomas Ford, Daniel McNeely, John Martin, Redmond Carter, Hosea Presley, Cornelius Dollarhide, Robert B. Stille, William Langton, Leslie Barbee, George W. Edwards and Solomon Royaton.
Judge James G. Campbell of the Sixteenth district presided in 1844, and was succeeded in 1846 by Judge James Taylor, when the following grand jury was empanelled: R. A. Gay, D. S. D. Moore, John Caldwell, Daniel P. Lockwood, Charles W. Elam, Joseph Smith, Stedman Gordon, James Parrott, John Carroll, William Stoker, G. M. Cook, John S. Sibley, Thadeus T. Montgomery, S. Arthur, M. L. Branch, Edmund Price, Aaron Savelle and Henry Earls. From 1847 to 1850 Judges E. R. Ollcut and James Taylor presided at alternate sessions of the court. Judges Charles A. Bullard and Roland Jones held court here the following three years. (In 1853 William T. Hamilton was district attorney. He was succeeded by A. R. Mitchell, who served as prosecutor for several years.) In 1853 Judge Chichester Chaplin presided, and the following year Judge Thomas T. Land held court. From 1855 to 1863 Judge Chaplin presided, and at the regular term of the latter year, during the Civil War, the following grand jury was selected: H. S. Ramsey, H. Hartman, S. T. Thomas, N. Darnell, T. J. Arthur, N. P. Smart, William Stoker, Sam Mitchell, Riley Stoker, Wade Anderson, James K. Phares, Eli Smith, H. S. Kennedy. In 1866 Judge W. B. Lewis presided and the large docket was cleared. There was no court from this year until 1873, when Judge John Osborn opened court and presided until 1875 when Chichester Chaplin, Jr., appeared as judge of the Seventeenth district. Judge Chaplin was succeeded by Judge David Pierson, in 1877. W. P. Hall was district attorney at this time, but was succeeded in 1880 by D. C. Scarborough. In 1881 the grand jury investigated the case where two prisoners were taken from the jail at Many and killed, and the jury, of which William Slay was foreman, exonerated Sheriff Lout from any blame in the affair, as he was out of town at the time the lynching took place. In 1884 a committee, composed of D. C. Scarborough, J. F. Smith, R. W. Sibley and Leo Vandegaer, was appointed to draft resolutions in memory of Sheriff Alfred Lout, who was killed on the streets of Many. Resolutions were spread on the court minutes. In July, 1890, in memory of J. Fisher Smith and William A. McNeely, two prominent servants of the parish and state, whose deaths occurred that year. B. F. Presley, D. C. Scarborough, Amos L. Ponder, M. K. Speight and J. H. Caldwell comprised the committee which drafted the resolutions. In 1892 Judge W. P. Hall presided, Sabine being in the Ninth district, and continued as judge until 1901. During this period J. B. Lee was district attorney. In 1901 J. B. Lee qualified as judge of the Twelfth district, composed of the parishes of DeSoto, Sabine and Vernon, and Amos L. Ponder as attorney for the district. In 1905 Judge Lee was re-elected and James W. Parsons qualified as district attorney. Judge Don SoRelle presided as judge of the Twelfth district from 1909 to 1913 and James G. Palmer officiated as district attorney. In 1913 Mr. Palmer was elected judge and William M. Lyles district attorney. It would require a large volume to give the records of the courts. The judiciary has through all past years been compelled to punish many crimes, characteristic of every country on earth. The law has demanded the life of only one person in satisfaction for crime, and, with few exceptions, the spirit of the mob has not been manifest since the early days of the parish. Altogether the men who have presided over the courts of the parish were known for their conscientiousness and integrity, they had the support of a citizenship which has stood for law and order and whose labors have made regard for the law in Sabine as thorough as can be found anywhere.
The bar of Sabine has been composed of men of splendid ability, many of whom rendered distinguished services to their parish and state. Since 1843 the following lawyers have been members of the Sabine Parish bar: W. L. Toumey, Joseph B. Elam, Chichester Chaplin, W. T. Hamilton, S. H. Waples, E. C. Davidson, E. F. Presley, Geo. Head, R. A. Hunter, W. A. Seay, W. G. McDonald and Amos L. Ponder. Mr. Ponder left in 1908 to take the position of attorney for the State Game and Fish Commission and is at present a resident of Amite City. The bar for the past several years has been composed of the following: T. C. Armstrong, Pleasant Hill; Silas D. Ponder, Don E. SoRelle, John H. Boone, William P. Good and Richard A. Fraser. John H. Williams, Jr., was a member of the bar here in 1904, but after assuming the position of parish superintendent of public education he was required to give up the practice of law, and after leaving that office he engaged in business pursuits.
Back to: Sabine Parish – Louisiana History & Genealogy Project
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Source
Belisle, John G., History of Sabine Parish, Louisiana, Many, La. : The Sabine banner press, 1912.