H. H. Trimble during
his period was, in my opinion, the best trial lawyer in Iowa; and this period
was actively continued for an unusual length of time--for sixty years, and until
near his death. He was born in Rush County, Indiana, in 1827, and died at
Keokuk, Iowa, in 1910, at the age of eighty-three. He was always, from the
beginning to the end, a Democrat of the old school, and upon him were often
conferred the highest public honors of his party. He studied law with the
eminent Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, and came to Bloomfield, Iowa, and
entered upon the practice in 1850. He was the earliest lawyer of state-wide
distinction in Davis County. He was among the first lawyers I became acquainted
with on my admission to the bar, in 1857, and from that time, excepting the
period of his military service in the War of the Rebellion, through the course
of many years, there was not a session of our court at Ottumwa that he did not
attend, and for the period of four years he was the Judge of our District. To
look at Henry Trimble, as Judge Knapp used to call him, you might have failed to
see amid the lines of that furrowed face, any signs of pathos or eloquence, but
I have seen him on two or three occasions in the olden times, exhibit powers
that would hastily change your mind. He was a soldier in the Mexican War; a
colonel in the great Civil War, and bore on his face the marks of that conflict.
He was one of the foremost judges forty years ago, though his chiefest
distinction was that of a trial lawyer, rather than that of a judge. This was
but natural from the fact that one role was so strong that it greatly
overshadowed the other. Judge Trimble formerly lived in Bloomfield, in Davis
County, but in later years he removed to Keokuk, where he ably represented the
interests of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company and there was
scarcely an important case in Iowa concerning that Company, in which he did not
take part.
Judge Trimble was tall, spare, and a casual observer would likely think
him somewhat delicate physically, but this would be a mistake, for scarcely any
man
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possessed
finer powers of endurance, and in the latter part of his life he
wonderfully maintained his physique by out-of-door sports and exercises,
which he had neglected in the early part of his life. In facial and
general appearance, his son, Palmer Trimble, greatly resembles him. Shortly after
coming to Davis County he was, in 1851, elected County Attorney, and
served in that capacity until 1855, and from 1855 to 1859 represented his
County in the State Senate. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War he allied
himself with what was known as the "War Democrats" and took an
active part in the organization of the Third Iowa Cavalry, of which he
became the Lieutenant Colonel. In a desperate charge at the Battle of Pea
Ridge, he received a wound so severe that it obliged his retirement from
the service. Upon his return he was elected Judge of his District and
served in that capacity four years. He was twice a candidate of his party
for the Supreme Court, once before the Legislature, and again before the
people, in 1865. In 1858 he was the nominee of his party for Congress,
against Samuel R. Curtis, and again in 1872, against William Loughridge.
He was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention of 1880, which
nominated General Winfield S. Hancock, and in 1884 was a delegate at large
to the Convention which nominated Grover Cleveland for the Presidency. In
1879 he was unanimously nominated as the Democratic candidate for Governor
of Iowa. The obstacle in the way of election to these offices lay in the
fact, that during all these years his party was in a hopeless minority. He
had a national reputation as a lawyer and political leader. He was well
educated and knew how to use the English language effectively. He received
his education in the State University of Indiana, and Asbury University at
Green Castle, entering the Mexican War upon his graduation from the last
named institution, in 1847. By |
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