“It further appears that, in the judgment which was entered, an additional order was made, upon facts made to appear to the court, directing the clerk to issue a writ of restitution to restore to the plaintiffs the possession of the premises which (we may infer) had been taken from them by virtue of the orders which had been made by the County Court in disobedience to the prohibition. We find no warrant in any authority for such a proceeding. The proper remedy for a contempt would seem to be an attachment, to be enforced by fine and imprisonment. The sheriff’s execution shows that he had made restitution by putting the plaintiffs in possession of the church from which they had been thus unlawfully ejected. The defendant, Pierce, moved to set aside the judgment, for the reason, among others, that this order of restitution was irregular, and his motion was overruled. The Justices of the County Court appear to have acquiesced in the action of the court below, and refused to join with the defendant, Pierce, in this appeal. * *
“We see no better way than to affirm the judgment, and it is accordingly affirmed.
“Judge Wagner concurs; Judge Lovelace absent.”
The following points should be noted in making up the public verdict upon the action of Mr. Pierce and the Church which he represents.
1. Mr. Pierce obtained from the County Court an order putting him in possession of the church upon a false plea—that the property belonged to the county—without notifying the trustees or any other parties, and without making them parties to the proceeding.
2. Mr. Pierce acted as his own sheriff, and executed the unlawful order of the court in an unlawful manner, by forcing an entrance to the church, removing the lock, substituting another, and, with a self-organized posse, guarded the church all night with arms in his hands and the order of the County Court in his pocket.
3. He tried to quash the writ of prohibition issued by the Circuit Court, failing in which he tried to stay its execution by his appeal to the Supreme Court until that decision could be had—to keep possession of the property and use it in the interest of his Church.
4. The M. E. Church, North, of which Mr. Pierce was a minister in good standing, indorsed the proceedings as a part of her policy—announced by her Conference—to get possession of the property of the M. E. Church, South.
5. The unlawful means used in this case was fully sanctioned, if not instigated, by the Rev. Mr. Haggerty, presiding elder of the district, who was present and aided in nearly all the proceedings in the church and in the courts.
6. The act has never been disavowed, disowned, disclaimed or condemned by any Bishop, Quarterly, Annual or General Conference of that Church; nor was Mr. Pierce’s character ever arrested in an Annual Conference for his conduct in this Boonville church affair.