In 1878, James S. "Pappy" Meek and his wife, Mary Ann, sold the former building located at 10 South Main Street to their son-in-law, Willis Hickam, Sr., who then began his practice of law. As a matter of interest, James S. Meek had been the retiring Clerk of the Owen Circuit Court, and by tradition, all outgoing Clerks of the Court were automatically admitted into the practice of law. Although he never practiced law, his notoriety as Clerk of the Owen Circuit Court is well documented in many abstracts of title to real estate transactions in Owen County, Indiana.