“For the constitution; the day we voted on the constitution, I think that was the day.”
“What office did you hold then?”
“No, sir; it was not the day of the constitutional election; it was the day on which the election, I think, of officers took place, and I know that I was—or at least my impression is that I was probate judge at the time; that is my impression, that I was probate judge at the time.”
“The officers were elected on the same day the constitution was voted on. So you could not have been a probate judge until you were elected and commissioned.”
“No, sir; my impression is, that it was after I was probate judge that that occurred. I think I told him that by virtue of the office that I held, if he did not desist from this—I know that was my assertion to the soldier.”
“Was that a proper act for an officer, a conservator of the peace?”
“I do not know that it was, but the acts of violence going on, I thought, demanded it, and the sheriff of the county had left,—and left these soldiers there to do just what they pleased, and they were drunk; and when I asked them several times to desist from this thing, and this fellow clapped his hand on his pistol,—and I had a large derringer in my pocket, and I told him he should do it.”
“You drew your pistol on him?”
“Yes, sir; I drew my pistol.”
“Was it your duty to arrest him?”