The Courthouse Feud: Superintendent Resigns and Foremen Are Ordered Off the Job

On February 5 the board took up Estimate No. 7 for construction of the court house and refused to allow it, because the contractors had not complied with the plans and specifications after being notified by the superintendent. On February 11 a communication from Supt. W. A. Rogers regarding materials on the new court house was laid over. On February 12 the matter of materials and court house construction was discussed by contractor, architect, superintendent and board, and Rogers’s resignation was read and laid over. On February 13 a communication from W. A. Ritchie, architect, was read and ordered filed. The resignation of W. A. Rogers, superintendent of the court house, was considered and accepted, with this resolution: “Resolved, That, in our opinion Mr. Rogers has endeavored to strictly follow our instructions and has endeavored to have all the work done strictly in accordance with the plans and specifications; that it is with regret that we accept said resignation and only consent to do so on account of the strained relations that have unavoidably arisen between the contractors, architect, superintendents, and foremen, which renders it impossible that the work should go on harmoniously under the circumstances; and that in accepting the resignation of Mr. Rogers, we insist upon the terms of the demand of Architect Ritchie be complied with by the contractors, and that the contractor’s foreman, Cole, and mason’s foreman, Ross, be dismissed from the work.” On February 15, R. O. Owen was appointed superintendent to succeed Rogers at $5.00 per day, and Rogers was employed to assist Owen for one week. On February 16, Estimate No. 7 was again taken up and a warrant for $4,320 was ordered drawn in payment.