The Supreme Court of Wisconsin. gutted and much injured by the mob. Other loyal citizens had been set upon, their persons injured and houses damaged in like manner. The governor sent a detachment of troops to this scene of domestic insur rection. The soldiers were fired upon by the mob, and a little outcropping of armed rebellion was in full activity in this County, largely settled by foreigners, who deemed a draft the worst of despotism. Druecher with others was arrested by order of the governor and after a few days turned over to the United States military authorities, by whom he was kept some weeks in confine ment. For this he brought action against the governor. The court below directed a verdict for the defendant, and Judge Downer in a strong opinion justified the governor's action. An incident or two must here be related. When Downer was at the bar he was a bold, aggressive champion of his client's cause, and when he tried a case against John J. Orton, the contest had some of the elements of a personal quarrel. On one occasion they were arguing a case in the Supreme Court, Downer had finished his argument and was packing up his papers to leave by an early train, while Orton closed on his side. Missing his spectacles, which he had closed in a book, Downer was hunting for them, first on one side of Orton then the other, looking on the floor and table with the air of a man making a search when in a hurry. Orton, visibly annoyed by this bustling about him, paused in his argument, glared at Downer, then putting hand in pocket, drew out a bit of coin, threw it down before Downer, saying: "There! take that, I am tired of this mercenary hunt." The lawyers and judges still laugh at a ludicrous incident which happened in court while Judge Downer sat on the bench. He was quite familiar with law cases and it was his habit while a case was in argument to recall some reported case he had read bear ing on the point under discussion. He
127
would suddenly throw up his hands, rise quickly, leave the bench and. step into the library for the book. Chief-Justice Dixon had a favorite dog, who was his constant companion, and had the liberty of the con sultation room — in those days the three judges sat together in a large room, wrote their opinions and had their consultations all together. Everybody but Judge Downer loved Old Dick, as bench and bar knew the dog. The old fellow during the argu ment of cases would lie at his master's feet under the bench, dozing away with one eye askant on Judge Downer's feet, from which sundry kicks had made him distrustful and shy of the stern associate justice. One day, while the judges were listening to argument, Old Dick lay at his master's feet, rejoicing in his dozing way that it was beneath a dog's dignity to pay attention to a legal argument. Suddenly Judge Downer arose with the peculiar flop of the arms that showed how a case in the books had oc curred to him, which he must consult. The dog, startled from his doze by this sudden movement, also darted out to make his escape in the same direction, running be tween the Judge's legs. Down came dog and Judge in a promiscuous heap on the floor. The Judge gave a grunt, and the dog gave a yelp; and it was a question which expressed the most indignation, the aspect of the Judge or that of " Old Dick." Never, I ween, did court or bar find it more diffi cult to maintain due gravity than on this occasion. After his retirement from the bench, Judge Downer returned to practice, and to the management of his estate. Though twice married he had no children. But he planned for the perpetuation of his name in the spirit of the broad-minded benefactor. He gave liberally to the church, but made the special object of his bounty the Wisconsin Female College at Fox Lake, Wisconsin. He contributed most of the funds to build its principal building known as " Downer's
