HISTORY OF ORANGE COUNTY
CHAPTER 5

THE BUNGER HOMICIDE

On the 10th of July, 1818, Daniel and Michael Bunger were hoeing corn, when they became involved in an altercation which ended by Daniel striking Michael a violent blow on the side of the head with the heavy hoe, inflicting a wound three inches long and two inches deep, from which Michael died in a few minutes. Daniel was indicted by the grand jury and tried before Judge Floyd, Charles Dewey prosecuting and Henry Stephens defending. The jury decided that Daniel was insane, and thus incapable of committing a crime, whereupon a guardian was appointed by the court.

The usual court routine were suits of slander, covenant, riot, assumpsit, assault and battery, debt, trespass on the case, divorce, trespass, etc. F. P. Stows was admitted to practice in 1817. The famous fictions, John Doe vs. Richard Roe, or John Den vs. Richard Fen, were used at this time and until the adoption of the new constitution of 1852. The old attorneys were sorry to part with the old practice, and deplored the innovation on a usage so old that the memory of man ran not to the contrary. It seemed a sacrilege on a time-honored custom, and during the remainder of their lives the old attorneys did not become reconciled to the statutory change.

THE LINDLEY-CHESS SLANDER SUIT

A case which created much amusement at the time to outsiders was that of trespass on the case brought by Zachariah Lindley against James Chess for slander. The latter having a personal grudge against the former for some reason, which is said to have been a rigid enforcement of various merited judgments against him for sundry offences, in order to injure him, and if possible secure his dismissal from the office of County Sheriff, composed and published the following "poem:"

ZACHARIAH LINDLEY'S MORNING PRAYER.
“Preserve me, Lord, throughout this day,
A saint that doth most humbly pray;
Oh, give me drink, and give me food,
Of everything that's sweet and good;
Oh, give me, Lord, a store of riches,
Nor let me go with patched breeches.
Let me have wine, oh, yes, and brandy,
To me more sweet than sugar candy.
Oh give me, Lord, Constant protection;
Teach me to lie at each election.
Let me have jurors that for hire
Can always clear a guilty squire.
Raise me up to highest power,
And give me whisky every hour,
That I may drink and have my fill,
And for a vote can give a gill.
Do Thou make sure, then, my election,
Nor give to Pinnick your protection;
Let some device that I may use
The peoples' suffrage still abuse;
Oh, let my power still extend
To help in law my warmest friend;
Save me from lawyers Goodlett and Meek,
And Thy great praise I'll always speak.

"Z. Lindley-The 109th Psalm and 8th verse.* This was a toast drank by a lady in this town, and every man in this county should drink it. The copyright is secured to the Sheriff."

[*"Let his days be few, and let another take his office."]

Mr. Lindley brought suit for $5,000 damages for the libel, Henry Stephens being his attorney, but the case was finally compromised in some manner not now remembered. James Chess was a notorious lawbreaker, and a few years later engaged in counterfeiting and was arrested and prosecuted in the Lawrence Circuit Court. It was shown in the trial that he had counterfeited forty-four eagles, current gold coin of the United States, whereupon he was convicted and sentenced to the penitentiary for a term of years. His counsel, Stephen & Kidder, appealed the case to the Supreme Court, alleging in the complaint that no State court had jurisdiction in an infringement or violation of a law of the United States, but the judgment of the lower court was in all things affirmed at the cost of the appellant. Moore prosecuted the pleas of the State.

THE PUBLIC SERVICES OF ZACHARIAH LINDLEY

Zachariah Lindley was the terror of evil-doers. He was a large, strong, active man, utterly destitute of fear, and made just such an officer as was needed in that early day of slack or absent law. Many a horse thief or other serious criminal, whom he had followed and arrested perhaps in one of the Southern States, was never heard of afterward, the opinion prevailing that he took the law into his own hands and perhaps strung them up to a convenient tree without assistance or without benefit of clergy, thus to save to his county the costs of a long and burdensome trial, and rid the earth of an encumbrance. A few years later than this a negro attacked Daniel Dayhuff with a knife or an ax and cut his abdomen so that his intestines protruded in a dangerous manner. The negro then made his escape into Kentucky, but was followed by Lindley and captured, but was never brought back. James Chess, who lived north in the edge of Lawrence County, it is said was constantly engaged in a case of assault and battery, and being a strong man, was usually the aggressor. He feared no man except Zachariah Lindley, but on one occasion he outwitted Lindley, which the latter afterward pleasantly confessed. Chess had violated the law in some manner, and Lindley went up to arrest him. Upon reaching his log residence the Sheriff knocked at the door, which was instantly opened and an arm thrust out. A violent twist was given the nasal organ of the surprised Lindley, and at the same time a pistol was leveled at him by Chess, who had the "drop" on him at last. The Sheriff could not draw a pistol, for if he attempted it, Chess, who was courageous and dangerous, would shoot him without hesitation. He, therefore, made the best of the situation, and threw up his hands when ordered to do so by Chess, and marched out of the yard with as much dignity as he could command in such a humiliating position. Lindley was afterward leader of a band of regulators; he was also Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment of Indiana Militia.

THE EARLIEST ASSOCIATE AND PRESIDENT JUDGES

Comparatively little is known as to the professional character of the early members of the bench and bar of the Orange Circuit Court. David Raymond was the first President Judge and Samuel Chambers and Thomas Vandeveer the first two Associates. Judge Raymond lived in one of the counties on the southeast and is said to have been an able jurist for that day. The two Associates were well known to the early settlers of the county. They were rough old fellows, full of hard common sense, with personal honor far above reproach, and graced the position they were elected to occupy. It would seem that the office of Associate Judge was useless, but it greatly facilitated the transaction of court proceedings, as the Associates in vacation could get matters well in hand for the few days of the court term.

PROFESSIONAL CHARACTER OF JUDGE FLOYD

In 1818 Davis Floyd became President Judge. He was a tall, dark-complexioned man, with a heavy voice and rapid speech, and was specially skillful in the management of a case in court. He was eminently a "jury lawyer," but was also a good judge of law and a fair student. On the bench he was grave, decorous, but would "down"a lawyer detected in an attempt to impose upon his credulity or befog him with intricate legal technicalities. In 1817 John Pinnick became his Associate on the bench, vice Chambers, and in 1818 Samuel Cobb also became his Associate, vice Pinnick, resigned.

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