The Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Representative Men of Chicago, Milwaukee and the World's Columbian Exposition

              BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
301
In March, 1859, ^^- Ei^i^is' father died, leaving his mother and two brothers alone upon the farm. He at once withdrew from his engagement with Messrs. Parks and Hite, and returned home, where he, with his two brothers, took charge of and cultivated the farm that season. He was ap¬ pointed administrator of his father's estate, which necessitated his obtaining and reading the statutes of the State, and this resulted in his forming a desire to study law. He obtained Blackstone's Commentaries and read them during the summer of that year. When the greater part of farm work was done for that season, he taught a sub¬ scription school in his home district, from which he realized sufificient money to enable him to at¬ tend law school.
In the fall of 1859, having successfully settled up his father's estate, leaving his mother and two brothers upon the farm, he, in company with a young neighboring friend, James M. Dill (now Judge Dill, of Bellville, Illinois), attended a law school in Indianapolis, Indiana, conducted by the Hons. Jonathan W. Gordon, Napoleon B. Taylor and John Coburn. At the close of this school he attended the law school of the Northwestern Christian University, in the same city, where the Hon. Samuel E. Perkins, then one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana, was the profes¬ sor. At this school he entered the senior class, and in the spring of i860 was graduated. He again returned home, where his counsel was soon sought by his friends and acquaintances. He was soon employed to commence suits and con¬ duct trials. His first case was of a novel charac¬ ter and without a precedent. A man named Hall seeing a swarm of bees passing in the air, pursued them some distance, when he succeeded in set¬ tling them on a small tree on the land of a man named Hess. Hall returned home for a hive. While gone, Hess, who lived near by, discovered the bees, felled the tree, put the bees into a hive, and carried them away. Hall claimed the bees. Hess refused to give them up. Hall applied to Mr. Ennis for counsel, who advised the com¬ mencement of an action of replevin. The action was commenced. On the day of the trial, Mr. Ennis appeared for Hall. He recognized the fact that this was more than an ordinary event in his life, perhaps a turning point. He took the   position   that   bees,   though   fercB   natttrce.
might be subdued and reclaimed, when they would become the subject of qualified property and ownership; that the pursuing and settling the bees by Hall was such a subduing and re¬ claiming as to give him a qualified property in them. His reasoning had its desired effect—a decision was rendered in favor of Hall. This vic¬ tory was followed by others. Thus encouraged, Mr. Ennis applied himself to the study of his pro¬ fession with renewed hope, energy and persever¬ ance.
In the fall of i860 he opened an ofifice at Martinsville, Indiana, the county seat of his native county. He soon gained the reputation of being the most studious and industrious law¬ yer, and of keeping the neatest and best arranged ofifice, in the place. He was determined to suc¬ ceed, consequently gave his undivided attention to business, and was in almost constant attend¬ ance at his ofifice or in court. About this time Mr. Ennis formed a partnership with the Hon. Samuel H. Buskirk, subsequently one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Indiana, a lawyer of experience and ability, who then resided at Bloomington, Indiana, but attended the courts at Martinsville.
On November 29, i860, Mr. Ennis was married, at Manchester, Indiana, to Miss Almarinda Bald- ridge, a young lady of high culture and refine¬ ment, whose acquaintance he had formed while attending law school. Miss Baldridge was a daughter of the late Rev. Daniel Baldridge, a pioneer minister of renown in the Christian Church of Ohio. She was a faithful and devoted member of the church, and, like her husband, in¬ dustrious, economical, energetic and persevering.
From this time forward Mr. Ennis applied him¬ self to the duties of his profession with all the power he could command. His fidelity to clients, honesty of purpose, and upright deportment as a man, commanded universal respect. He suc¬ ceeded in his profession far beyond his most sanguine expectations. He was in his ofifice early and late; would often rise in the morning before daylight, and, while his wife prepared breakfast, saw and split a supply of wood for the day; then eat his breakfast and go to his ofifice and com¬ mence the day's work while it was yet too dark to read without the aid of a lamp. In the summer of 1863 the partnership existing between Mr. Ennis