USA > Indiana > Courts and lawyers of Indiana, Volume III > Part 50
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JAMES A. VAN OSDOL.
James A. Van Osdol, of Anderson, general attorney for the Union Trac- tion Company and the several corporations growing out of the same, is a native Hoosier, born on a farm in Ohio county, Indiana, August 4, 1860, and remaining on the home farm until he was twenty-four years of age. His education was obtained in the district school in the neighborhood of his home and at the age of seventeen he became a teacher, which profes- sion he followed for seven years, farming during the summers and devot- ing his leisure to the study of law. In the fall of 1882, Mr. Van Osdol was admitted to the bar and in 1884 moved to Vevay, where he entered upon the practice of his profession. Shortly afterward a complication in political affairs in that (Switzerland) county resulted in his election to the office of superintendent of schools for that county. After serving one term in that office he returned to the practice of law and in 1893 moved to Madison county, locating first at Elwood, whence, in the spring of 1895, he moved to Anderson to enter into a law partnership with Charles L. Henry and Byron McMahan. Later, he joined with Mr. Henry, of that firm, in the organization of the Union Traction Company and shortly after- ward took charge of the legal affairs of that corporation and has ever since continued as general attorney for the several corporations which have arisen out of that first interurban undertaking, or which have since become allied with it in developing the property now owned and operated by the Union Traction Company of Indiana.
FRANK MAXWELL HOWARD.
Frank M. Howard was born at Rockville, Indiana, October 3, 1844. He is the youngest son of Gen. Tilghman and Martha (Maxwell) Howard. He was born six weeks after the death of his father. His boyhood was spent in Rockville, where he attended the public schools and the seminary and for a short time the military school at Clinton and also the academy at Waveland. His education was interrupted by his enlistment in the army in 1863. At the close of the war he entered the law office of David H. Maxwell and after a short time was admitted to the bar at Rockville, where he practiced till his death, March 10, 1901. He served four years as prosecutor. He married Mary Andrews, of Marshall, Illinois. They had six children.
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FRANK J. FOLEY.
Frank J. Foley was born in Warren, Massachusetts, August 9, 1SS1. He is the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Cronin) Foley. He received his elementary training in the schools of Warren, and later took his Bache- lor of Arts degree at Holy Cross College, Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1904. He then entered Boston Law School, from which he graduated in 1907. After one year's practice in Worcester he came to Terre Haute, September, 1908, and went into the office of Hamill & Ilickey. After eighteen months here he formed a partnership with Charles S. Batt, with whom he re- mained three years. He then. spent two years as deputy prosecutor, after which he formed a partnership with Benjamin Blumberg. On September 1, 1915, he was appointed deputy prosecutor. He is a member of the local bar association, a Knight of Columbus, and of the Young Men's Institute.
JOHN W. CLAYPOOL.
John W. Claypool, of Indianapolis, was born at Terre Haute, Indiana. October 19, 1858, only son of the late Judge Solomon and Hannah M. (Os- born) Claypool. He received his elementary education In the public schools of his native city and later attended old Asbury University, now DePauw University, at Greencastle. In 1870 the Claypool family moved to Indian- apolis and there at the age of eighteen years John W. Claypool became a student in his father's law office. In September, 1SS1, he was admitted to the bar and presently. upon the dissolution of the legal firm with which his father was connected. father and son became associated in practice, under the firm name of Claypool & Claypool, and so remained until Judge Claypool's death on March 19, 1898, since which time John W. Claypool has been engaged alone in the practice of his profession, confining the same largely to practice in civil cases. Mr. Claypool is a Democrat, but has never sought or desired public office. He is a member of the Indiana Dem- ocratie Club and of the Second Presbyterian church at Indianapolis.
FREDERICK G. WHITE.
Frederick G. White, junior member of the law firm of Gardner, Jessup & White at Richmond, Indiana, is a native of this state, born at White- water, in Wayne county, April 21, 1881, son of William G. and Anna (An- derson) White, both natives of Indiana and the latter of whom, now de- ceased, was related to the family of the late Justice Harlan, of the United States Supreme Court. He was graduated from the Whitewater high school in 1899 and afterward taught school for one year in his home county. He then, in the fall of 1901, entered Indiana University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1905. He was then employed, 1905-06. as superintendent of schools at Whitewater and in the fall of 1906 entered the Harvard Law School, from which he was grad- uated in 1909. In that same year he was admitted to the bar and during the next two years was connected with the legal department of the Chesa- peake & Ohio Railroad Company. In 1911 he became the junior member
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of the firm of Gardner, Jessup & White at Richmond, this state, an asso- ciation which continues. Mr. White is a member of the Indiana State Bar Association, a Republican, a Mason, an Odd Fellow and a member of the Presbyterian church. On June 16, 1912, Frederick G. White was united in marriage to Mrs. Elizabeth (Creighton) Kohler, of Wabash, Indiana.
ELISHA EMBREE.
In the roster of distinguished lawyers, judges and statesmen produced by conditions in southwestern Indiana at an early day, the name of Hon. Elisha Embree, a pioneer of Princeton, lawyer, judge and congress- man, occupies a high place. Judge Embree was a native of Lincoln county, Kentucky, son of Joshua Embree, who settled in Gibson county, Indiana, in 1811. The boyhood and youth of Judge Embree were spent in hard work with little opportunity for schooling, but in some way he managed to acquire a fair education. He studied law with Judge Hall at Princeton, became a successful practitioner at the bar and was an able and popular judge during the ten years (1835-45) he presided on the bench. In 1847 Judge Embree was elected to Congress, defeating Robert Dale Owen. In 1849 the Whig convention made him the nominee of that party for governor, but he declined the nomination. Upon his retirement from the bench in 1845 Judge Embree discontinued the practice of law until in 1852, when he and his son, James T. Embree, father of Lucius C. Embree, the latter of whom in association with his son, Morton Embree, is now practicing law at Princeton-in the third and fourth generations of this family of lawyers-opened offices together, and Judge Embree continued in practice until his death in 1862. James T. Embree went to the front during the Civil War as major of the Fifty-eighth Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and rose to the rank of lieutenant- colonel. His death occurred on August 3, 1867. Judge Embree's wife was Eleanor Robb, daughter of David Robb, a pioneer of Gibson county, a member of the Indiana state constitutional convention in 1816 and a member of the state Senate.
CLARK J. LUTZ.
Clark J. Lutz, of Decatur, was born at Williamsport, Allen county, Indiana, March 14, 1863. He was the youngest son of Samuel and Lucinda Lutz, who moved from Stark county, Ohio, to Allen county, Indiana, in the year 1850. He was educated in the common schools of his neighborhood, and at the age of fifteen engaged in the drug and general merchandise business at his native town, with his eldest brother, Jacob Lutz, under the firm name of Lutz Brothers. In 1882 he moved to Decatur, Indiana, and entered the high schools of that city. In 1883 he entered the law office of France, Vesey & Merryman and was admitted to the bar in 1884; since that time he has been engaged in the active practice. He served as county attorney of Adams county for fifteen consecutive years, resigning in the year 1914.
On October 14, 1885, he was united in marriage to Anna M. Lewis, of
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JUDGE ELISHA EMBREE.
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Decatur, Indiana, Mrs. Lutz was born at Zanesville, Ohio, and was the daughter of Dr. J. V. Lewis. To this union was born one child, Jean B., now the wife of Fred Rice Smith, of Decatur. In politics, Mr. Lutz is a Democrat. He is a communicant of the First Presbyterian church of Decatur and for more than thirty years has been a member of the session of that church. "Brookside" is his suburban home, where he has resided for a number of years.
CHARLES MCGUFFEY HEPBURN.
Charles McGuffey Hepburn, a member of the law faculty of Indiana University since 1903. was born in 1858 in Virginia. His father, Rev. Dr. A. D. Hepburn, of Oxford, Ohio, a member of the Miami University faculty for thirty-five years, was the son of Judge Samuel Hepburn (1806-1SOS), of Pennsylvania, of Scotch descent. Mr. Hepburn's mother is the child of the Rev. Dr. William H. McGuffey (1800-1873), author of the "McGuffey Readers." Charles M. Hepburn attended Davidson College in North Carolina and the University of Virginia, receiving the Bachelor of Arts degree of the former school in 1878 and the Bachelor of Laws of the latter in 1SSO. After a year in teaching, in charge of the preparatory department of Davidson College, he was admitted to the Virginia and Ohio bars. He was associated with the law firm of MeGuffey & Morrill, in Cincinnati, and then opened a law office of his own. He continued a member of the active Cincinnati bar until 1903, and is still on the rolls of the Cincinnati Bar Association. Polit- ically, he has been a Democrat, and as such was one of the early members of the Ohio Club and of the Young Jen's Democratic Club in Cincinnati. and a delegate to the Sound Money Convention in Indianapolis in 1896. In 1897, on the invitation of Judge William HI. Taft. he became a member of the faculty of the Cincinnati Law School and had charge of the work there in Common Law pleading and in Code Pleading until his removal to In- diana. He is the author of "The Historical Development of Code Pleading in America and England" (1897), "Cases on Code Pleading" (1900). "Par- ties to Action," Cyc. (1908), "Venue," Cye. (1912), "Cases on Torts" (1915), and of various articles in law periodicals. In the law school of Indiana University. his work has been chiefly in the subjects of "Torts." "Common Law Pleading," "Code Pleading" and "Conflict of Laws."
PHILIP B. O'NEILL.
Philip B. O'Neill, city attorney of Anderson and a member of the bar of the Madison circuit court since 1902. is a native of Indiana, born at Anderson on August 30. 1879, son of James and Nora (Corbett) O'Neill, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Kentucky, born at Louis- ville. He received his elementary education in St. Mary's parochial school at Anderson and was graduated from the Anderson high school in 189S. He then entered Notre Dame University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Literature in 1901; Bachelor of Laws, 1902. In the latter year he was admitted to the bar of the Madison circuit court,
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opened an office for the practice of his profession at Anderson and has ever since been thus engaged. In 1913 he was elected city attorney and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. O'Neill is a member of the Madison County Bar Association. He is a Democrat and has given considerable attention to state politics. On October 17, 1905, Philip B. O'Neill was united in marriage to May East, of Anderson.
SILAS A. HAYS.
Silas A. Hays, of Greencastle, Indiana, was born on a farm in Scott county, Indiana, October 20, 1850. He is a son of Alfred and Parmelia (Reed) Hays. Until he was fifteen he lived with his parents on the farm. The family at that time moved to Greencastle in order to have better facili- ties for the education of the children. From 1866 to 1872 Silas A. Hays was a student in Asbury College. After graduating he served for a time as city editor of the Banner and as city clerk, in the meantime reading law with Fred T. Brown. In 1880 he formed a partnership with Lieut .- Gov. Thomas Hanna, which lasted about four years. From 1889 to 1893 he practiced with H. H. Mathias. He has made his reputation in the crimi- nal practice. From 1888 to 1892 he was state senator. In 1886 and 1888 he was Republican county chairman. In 1893-4 he was a member of the DePauw law faculty. His wife was Sarah E. Farrow, daughter of Rich- ard S. Farrow.
F. H. RITTER.
F. H. Ritter was born February 25, 1885, at Hawpatch, now Topeka, Lagrange county, Indiana. He is one of three children born to James H. and Mary S. (Hall) Ritter. He passed through the common and high schools of Topeka. He then taught school three years and entered Indiana University. After one year he transferred to Notre Dame University, where he finished his preparation. He first located at Albion, but after a year moved to Butler, where he has since practiced. He is a member of the Dekalb County Bar Association, an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a Republican. He married Flora G. Holcomb and they have two chil- dren, Harold and Mary. The family are Methodists.
WILLIAM PIRTLE HEROD.
William Pirtle Herod, a practicing attorney at Indianapolis since his admission to the bar in that city in 1886, is a native of Indiana, born in the city of Columbus, July 27, 1864, son of William Wirt and Susan C. (Rogers) Herod, the former of whom, also a lawyer, was born' in that same city and the latter at Bryants Station, Kentucky. William Wirt Herod, now deceased, was a son of William Herod, for many years a law- yer at Columbus and who, as well as his son, William W., served the state for some time as a member of the General Assembly. William P. Herod was eleven years old when his father moved from Columbus to Indianapolis and his schooling in the common branches was received in
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the latter city. He was graduated from the Classical School in that city in 1882, and in that year entered Yale University. He then read law in the office of his father at Indianapolis and in 1885 formed a partnership with his father, which continued until the latter's death, since which time he has maintained his office alone, with present offices at 2-3 Aetna building. Mr. Herod is a Republican. On June 5, 1890, he married Mary Beaty Applegate, only daughter of Bergen Applegate, an Indianapolis wholesale merchant.
CHARLES A. KORBLY, SR.
Charles A. Korbly was born in Louisville, Kentucky, January 16, 1842, and died at Indianapolis, June 13, 1900. He spent his boyhood in Ripley county, Indiana. He prepared for the practice of medicine and during the war served as surgeon in an Indiana regiment. After the war he de- cided to change his profession to that of law. He was admitted to the bar and began practice at Madison, Indiana. He was associated at different times with Henry W. Harrington and W. O. Ford. In 1895, he came to Indianapolis and formed a partnership with Alonzo Green Smith, attorney- general of Indiana from 1890 to 1894, which lasted until Korbly's death. Korbly was not only a good lawyer, but was well versed in other lines of learning, especially the natural sciences. He belonged to the ultramontane branch of the Roman Catholic church. He was a Democrat, but never an office seeker, and in later years took little active interest in the councils of his party. He married Mary Bright, a daughter of Michael G. Bright. They had three children, one of whom. Charles A. Korbly, Jr., served three terms in Congress, and another, Bernard, who is now state chairman of the Democratic party.
JOHN THOMAS DYE.
John Thomas Dye, a son of Isaac and Martha (Fulcher) Dye, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, December 19, 1835. He grew to manhood in the county of his nativity and graduated from Bethany College, Vir- ginia, at the age of eighteen. After teaching school for one year he entered the law office of James Speed, of Louisville, and when twenty- two years of age began practicing at Maysville, Kentucky. He practiced there until 1861, when he came to Indianapolis, where he lived the re- mainder of his life.
During part of the Civil War he was acting as Supreme Court reporter, Benjamin Harrison, the incumbent of the office, being at the front. Dye was the editor of the twenty-third and twenty-fourth volumes of the Indiana Supreme Court Reports. A few years after locating in Indian- apolis he formed a partnership with Addison C. Harris, a connection which continued for twenty years. When the Indianapolis Bar Associa- tion was organized, November 30, 1878. in the office of Dye & Harris, he became one of the first vice-presidents. After the dissolution of his
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partnership with Harris, Dye became general counsel for the old Bee Line Railway Company, and, after its consolidation with the Cincinnati & Chicago Railway, he became general counsel of the consolidated Cleve- land, Chicago & St. Louis Railway Company, a position which he held until 1905.
From 1861 to 1870 he was one of the editorial writers on the Indian- apolis Journal. During this time he assisted Oscar C. McCulloch in or- ganizing the city's charities. He took an important part in getting In- diana to adopt the fifteenth amendment to the Federal Constitution. From 1880 to 1890 he worked in the interest of civil service reform. He was instrumental in ending the night-rider situation in Kentucky by pointing out that their acts were in violation of the Sherman anti-trust act. This brought the situation under the control of the Federal govern- ment-a situation which had become so desperate that it was beyond the control of the local authorities. He was president of the State Bar Association in 1909-10. During the last ten years of his life he studied and wrote upon topics of proposed legislation. He gave much thought and labor to the litigation in relation to the proposed amendments to the state Constitution, which was passed by the Legislature of 1911.
Mr. Dye was married to Anna G. Holton, of Mason county, Kentucky, December 27, 1858. They were the parents of five children: One, which died in childhood; Mrs. Mary B. Cushing, who died in 1913; William Hol- ton Dye, of the Indianapolis bar; Mrs. Elizabeth F. Longnecker and Mrs. Anna G. Garrison, both of Indianapolis.
The death of Mr. Dye occurred April 20, 1913. He was a member of the Christian church. It is a noteworthy fact that he refused to make a race for any public office during his whole career.
JOHN TENNYSON HAYS.
. John T. Hays, a well-known attorney at Sullivan, was born in Beaver county, Pennsylvania, November 11, 1845. After receiving a common- school education in his native county he graduated in 1864 from the Iron City Commercial College at Pittsburgh. Then after attending high school at Lisbon, Ohio, he entered Mt. Union College, where he was graduated in June, 1869. During the following year he was principal of schools at Calcutta, Ohio, and then came to Sullivan county, Indiana, where, until 1874, he taught in Ascension Seminary and at Sullivan and Oaktown. In 1874 he began the study of law in the office of Sewell Counsel and was admitted to the bar on March 1, 1875, when he formed a partner- ship with Judge George W. Buff, which continued until 1878, when he was elected prosecuting attorney. In 1879 he formed a partnership with his brother, H. J. Hays, which continued until 1892. In 1900 he received his son. Will H. Hays, into partnership, and in 1912 the younger son, Hinkle C. Hays, was admitted under the firm name of Hays & Hays.
Politically, Mr. Hays is a Republican and religiously is a Presby- terian. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic order, in which he has taken all the York-rite degrees, and the Knights of Pythias. He is
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also a member of the Columbia Club, Indianapolis. Mr. Hays has been twice married, first in 1869 from which unlon two daughters, Martha A. Hays and Bertha Hays Drake, were born. In December. 1876, he married Mary Cain, of Sullivan, and they have two sons, William Harri- son Hays and Hinkle Cain Hays.
WALTER T. HARDY.
Walter T. Hardy, Judge of the Superior court at Hammond, is a native of the state of Indiana, born in Carroll county May 24, 1869, son of David H. and Angeline Hardy. Upon completing the common school course he entered Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, and after completing the sophomore year in that Institution in 1892 he entered the Kent College of Law, Chicago, Illinois, where he graduated in 1895. Ile was admitted to the bar and began the practice of his profession in Delphi, Indiana, where he remained until 1907, in which year he moved to Hammond, where he has ever since been located. In 1914 he was elected as one of the three judges of the Lake Superior court sitting at Hammond, and is now serving in that capacity. Judge Hardy is a mem- ber of the State and Lake County Bar Associations. He is a Republican, a Knight Templar Mason and a Noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine and a member of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks. Judge Hardy married Bertha M. DeMuth, of Chicago.
FRANK ELLIS.
Frank Ellis, of Muncie, judge of the Forty-sixth Judicial circuit, is a na- tive and life-long resident of Delaware county, Indiana. His parents, John H. and Thebe (Kirkpatrick) Ellis, were pioneer settlers of the county and continued to reside there as long as they lived. In the Civil War, the father, John H. Ellis, was a captain and commanded his company at the battle of Chickamauga until he was killed by a gunshot during the fierce struggle on Sunday afternoon. His widow survived him thirty-seven years and never married, rearing their family of eight children.
Frank Ellis attended the district schools until he was sixteen years of age and then entered a printing office, where he soon became an expert at the trade. At the age of eighteen he taught one term of school, but although he gave much satisfaction as a teacher, he decided to return to his work in the newspaper office. He forsook the printer's case at the opening of the Civil War and became a member of his own father's company and was appointed captain to succeed his father, although he was then only twenty- one years of age. He commanded the company until it was mustered out at the close of the war.
At the election of 1864, when he was twenty-two years of age. he was elected treasurer of Delaware county, a genuine case of the office seeking
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the man, since his election was accomplished without the least suggestion or participation, or opportunity for participation by himself. At the time of his election he was with the army of Sherman and Thomas and was, therefore, deprived of the opportunity of being present on the day of elec- tion. He did not resign his captaincy for the sake of the civil office, but continued with his command until he returned home at the close of the war. He then found that he had not lost the opportunity to accept the office to which he had been elected, but immediately gave his bond and served the remainder of the term. At the close of his first term he was re-nominated and re-elected without having any opponent for nomination or election. Judge Ellis served as mayor of the city of Muncie from 1883 to 1891 and as United States commissioner from 1898 to 1910, his long tenures testifying as to the excellent administration of the duties con- nected with the offices. Before being elected judge of the Delaware Cir- cuit court he held several other public offices as well as many positions of trust and confidence. He was elected judge of the Circuit court of his county in November, 1910, and is still an incumbent of the office. He has been a member of the Masons and Odd Fellows for fifty years; also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Sons of Veterans and Elks, and formerly a member of the grand council of Red Men.
Judge Ellis was married in 1870 to Mary E. Martindale, a daughter of Rev. Benjamin F. Martindale. They have two daughters, Ethel Joy and Elizabeth. Ethel is a teacher in the Middle Tennessee State Normal School at Murfreesboro; Elizabeth is the wife of William M. Myers, a manufacturer of Terre Haute and the mother of the only grandchild of Judge Ellis.
RICHARD M. MILBURN.
Richard M. Milburn was born in Daviess county, Indiana, Septem- ber 24, 1866. His father, Richard F., was a Kentuckian. Mr. Milburn attended the schools of his county, the Mitchell Normal, and then entered the State Normal, graduating in 1881. In 1887 he graduated from the Law Department of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee; in 1903 he took his Bachelor's degree from Indiana University ; in 190S he received the Master's degree from the same institution. In 1887-88 he was super- intendent of the Jasper schools. He served, 1902 and 1903, as associate pro- fessor of law in Indiana University. In 1SSS he was admitted to the bar of Dubois county, where he remained in active practice of the law, except the two years he spent teaching at Indiana University, until he moved to Indi- annapolis, in 1914. In 1902 Mr. Milburn was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent Dubois and Daviess in the state senate, serving from 1903-1907. He was on the finance, judiciary, education, natural resources, public libraries and appointments committees, in the Sixty-third assembly. He introduced ten bills. In the Sixty-fourth he served on the courts, educa- tion, judiciary, libraries and military affairs committees.
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