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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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BENCH AND BAR
OF
OHIO
A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY
Illustrated with Steel-Plate and Half-Tone Engravings
GEORGE IRVING REED, A. M. EDITOR
EMILIUS OVIATT RANDALL, PH. B., LL. B., LL. M. AND
CHARLES THEODORE GREVE, B. A., LL. B. ASSOCIATE EDITORS
VOL. I.
CHICAGO THE CENTURY PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY
1897
Gc 977.1 R 25 b
82 6610 2
COPYRIGHT, 1897 THE CENTURY PUBLISHING AND ENGRAVING COMPANY CHICAGO
D. & H. PRESS DONOHUE & HENNEBERRY CHICAGO
15.00 (2vol 5) -0
Southem Boo.
PREFACE.
1167039
The publishers have aimed in this work to present an epitome of the history of the Courts and the Bar of Ohio. It covers a period of one hundred and ten years, opening with the settlement and organization of government in the Northwest Territory. Early authentic records are meager, and it has been necessary to search through all the volumes of history, the reports of memorial anniversaries, and countless pamphlets published by the His- torical Societies, in order to find the data for a historical sketch. Court records have been laboriously examined and old settlers have been interviewed. All this painstaking to secure accuracy has involved prodigious labor, and in spite of all, errors will doubtless be found in the work. Perfection is very rarely attained by mortals. The biographical sketches of individual subjects have been submitted to themselves or their representatives, for correction and approval, whenever practicable. The rich biographical material has by no means been exhausted. The editor and publishers are pleased to acknowledge their appreciation of the generous assistance ren- dered by Honorable Richard A. Harrison, Columbus; Henry C. Ranney and Judge Franklin J. Dickman, Cleveland ; General Benjamin R. Cowen, clerk of the United States District Court, Cincinnati; the associate editors and all others whose names appear as authors or editors of special articles. Gen- erally, throughout the State, the enterprise has received encouragement from the foremost members of the profession.
October 16, 1897.
THE EDITOR.
INDEX.
THE SUPREME COURT-A HISTORICAL SKETCHI. 1 THE CIRCUIT COURT OF OHIO .. 34
EARLY COURTS OF THE MAUMEE VALLEY. 47
REMINISCENCES-EARLY JUDGES, COURTS AND MEMBERS OF THE BAR. 62
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF CINCINNATI.
69
ADAMS, JOHN J 448
CRAIGHEAD, WILLIAM 224
ALBAUGH, JOHN W
421
CRITCHFIELD, JOHN D. 363
ALLREAD, JAMES I. 404
CRONISE, FLORENCE. 392
BABST, DANIEL, JR 411
DALE, CHARLES W 283
BAKER, RUFUS H. 336
DICKEY, ALFRED S. 155
BAKER, WILLIAM 172
DICKEY, HENRY L. 440
BALDWIN, FRANK L. 419
DICKSON, WILLIAM M. 144
BARBER, JASON 334
DONOVAN, DENNIS D 396
BATEMAN, WARNER M 130
DONOVAN, JAMES. 410
BATES, JOSHUA H.
133
DOUGLASS, SILAS M
238
BEER, THOMAS.
387
Dow, DUNCAN.
400
BEVERSTOCK, EDWARD.
343
DOYLE, DAYTON A
418
BOOTH, CHARLE 425
EDGERTON, SIDNEY
192
BOWERSOX, CHARLES A
345
ELLIOTT, HENDERSON
260
BOWMAN, SAMUEL A. 287
ENOS, BENJAMIN F 352
BRINKERHOFF, ROELIFF 162
EVANS, NELSON W 314
BROOMHALL, ADDISON F 430
EWING, THOMAS (The Elder) 75
BROTIIERTON, JOHN F. 356
EWING, THOMAS (GENERAL). 114
BROWN, JAMES M. 326
FAWCETT, JACOB P. 423
FILES, JOHN 354
BRUMBACK, ORVILLE S.
334
FOLLETT, JOHN F. 125
FORAKER, JOSEPH B 467
BUCKLAND, HORACE S 236
GIBSON, WILLIAM H. ..
202
BUCKLAND, RALPH
233
GIDDINGS, JOSHUA R. 123
BUCKLAND, RALPH P 233
GILMORE, WILLIAM J .. 291
CABLE, DAVIS J. 355
GLENN, HIRAM C. 243
CAHILL, RICHARD W. 347
GODFREY, JAMES J. 405
CAMERON, JOHN P ..
350
GOEKE, J. HENRY 409
CAMPBELL, JAMES E. 277
GOTTSCHALL, OSCAR M. 285
CANARY, JOHN W 341
GREENOUGH, ELBRIDGE F 353
CARPER, HOMER M. 398
GREER, HENRY H. 200
CLARK, JOHN C. . 284
GROESBECK, WILLIAM S. 263
COCHRAN, A. P. LINN. 365
COOPER, WILLIAM C. 159
HAGAN, FRANCIS M. 295
HALFIIILL, JAMES W. 357
CORWIN, THOMAS 247
COURT, STEPHEN A. 380
HAM, HENRY H. 389
COURTRIGIIT, SAMUEL W
450
HAM, THOMAS F. 388
Cox, JOSEPH .. 135
HAMILTON, JAMES K 181
CRAIGHEAD, CHIARLES A. 224
HARRIS, HENRY B. 391
CRAIGHEAD, SAMUEL.
GROSVENOR, CHARLES H. 220
CORBETT, WILLIS F 349
HAM, FRANK S. 390
HARRIS, STEPHEN R. 381
BRUCKER, LEWIS 242
BUCKLAND, GEORGE 238
vi
INDEX.
HARRIS, WILLIAM IL. 337
HARRISON, RICHARD A 98
HASKELL, WILLIAM S. 362
HAY, FREDERICK L. 394
POTTER, EMERY D .. 176
HEBARD, DAVID B. 308
POTTER, EMERY D , JR.
374
HILL, WILLIAM D 187
HOADLY, GEORGE.
HOLCOMB, ANSELM T. 310
HOLCOMB, ANSELM T. (GENERAL). 258
HUBBARD, WILLIAM H 190
HUGGINS, EDWARD N 296
HULL, LINN W. 379
SATER, JOHN E.
434
HUNTER, SAMUEL M. 312
HUNTSBERGER, ISAAC N
376
SENEY, GEORGE E. 183
SHEARER, CHARLES C. 230
SHERMAN, LABAN S. 245
SLOANE, RUSH R. 175
SMITH, AMOS. 216
JAMES, BENJAMIN F 339
SMITH, GEORGE J.
269
JENNER, JOHN W 415
SMITH, JAMES M.
270
JEWETT, LEONIDAS W 448
JONES, FRANK H. 414
KEIFER, J. WARREN 228
KENNAN, COURTLAND L 413
KERNS, ARTHUR E. 366
KING, HARRY E .. 375
KING, RUFUS.
129
STORER, BELLAMY. 113
SUMMERS, AUGUSTUS N. 289
SUTPHEN, SILAS T. 318
SWAN, JOSEPH R. 109
LEEDOM, JOHN S 438
LEMMON, JOHN M.
165
LLOYD, HARLAN P
139
THURMAN, ALLEN G.
89
LOGAN, THOMAS A. 445
TRIPP, JAMES.
444
VANCE, JOHN L.
465
MALLON, PATRICK. 459
VAN DEMAN, JOHN D.
407
MARTIN, CHARLES D 301
VAN VOORHIS, HENRY C.
442
MASTERS, CHARLES H. 395
WADE, BENJAMIN F 146
WAITE, HENRY DEH. 180
WAITE, RICHARD. 171
273
MOORE, FRANK. 361
WARNER, ALMON M.
274
MORRIS, LINDLEY M 372
WARNOCK, WILLIAM R.
426
MOTTER, ISAAC S. 371
WARRINGTON, JOHN W 271
WATSON, COOPER K 321
MUNSON, GILBERT D. 443
WELDY, SETH. 460
WELKER, MARTIN 225
WEST, WILLIAM H. 150
WILSON, HARRISON. 431
WOLCOTTE, CHRISTOPHER P. 417
WOLFE, AMOS. 256
YOUNG, EDMOND S 279
YOUNG, GEORGE R 281
NYE, ARIUS 210
YOUNG, JOHN H. 462
O'NEAL, WEDEN 315
PAXTON, THOMAS B. 267
PECK, HIRAM D. 276
POMERENE, JULIUS C. 452
PRICE, JAMES L. . 324
PROBASCO, HENRY R. 262
PROBASCO, WILLIAM B. 262
PROPHET, HINCHMAN S 368
ROBINSON, JAMES W 298
SAFFORD, WILLIAM H. 218
SCRIBNER, CHARLES II.
168
HURD, FRANK H. 330
HURD, ROLLIN C. 317
HUSTON, ALEXANDER B. 456
SPENCER, CHARLES L 433
STANBERY, HENRY 84
STANBERY, PHILEMON B. 302
STEWART, GIDEON T. 205
STEWART, GILBERT H. 257
KITTREDGE, EDMUND W 127
LANING, JAY F 414
LEE, JOHN C. 328
THOMAS, WALTER S
428
THOMPSON, ALBERT C
304
MAYO, ARCHIBALD .. 435
MEEKER, DAVID L. 292
MILLARD, IRWIN I. 178
WALD, GUSTAVUS H.
MOWER, JACOB K. . 290
MCCAULEY, JOHN. 207
MCCLINTICK, WILLIAM T. 213
MCELROY, CHARLES H .. 401
MCINTIRE, ALFRED R. 358
NASK, JAMES K. 254
NOBLE, HENRY C. 248
NOBLE, WARREN P. 195
YOUNG, WILLIAM H
282
JAMES, WILLIAM D 446
SMITH, PALMER C. 454
LONGSWORTH, IRA R 370
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
THE SUPREME COURT. -
A HISTORICAL SKETCH.
EDITED BY GEN. MANNING F. FORCE.
The ordinance of 1787 was the bill of rights for the people of the territory northwest of the Ohio river. It was second in importance only to the Consti- tution of the United States, adopted during the same year and submitted to the States for ratification. Both were the work of the Continental Congress, and both the result of compromise and concession. The ordinance was a com- pact between the original States and the people of the territory and the States to be erected therein - a territory vast in extent, embracing the entire area west of the State of Pennsylvania to the Mississippi river; and north of the Ohio to the boundary line of Canada. For nearly two centuries it had served " as the gift of sovereigns to their colonial subjects and the cause of contention between rival kings. Adverse claims to its possession had been asserted by different colonies; and the savages had occupied it by a right more defensible than the right of discovery. King James had included it in his charter to the London and Plymouth Companies granted in 1606. It was embraced within the chartered limits of Virginia, extending from the Atlantic coast " up into the land throughout, from sea to sea, west and northwest." New York claimed it through the conquest of her Iroquois tribes. Massachusetts and Connecticut preferred jurisdictional claims on grounds more or less tenable. By the treaty between England and France, concluded in 1763, this North- west Territory was attached to the province of Quebec, and the pretensions of France were restricted to the region west of the Mississippi. The claims of Revolutionary soldiers to the favor of the colonies and the bounty of the con- tinental government influenced the cession of colonial claims for the common good, in order that a new empire might be opened to settlement by the men who had redeemed the land from tyranny. New York led the way in 1782, and one after another the others followed until all of the area had been ceded, except that Connecticut retained ownership of the land in the Western Reserve, in the northeast corner, and Virginia retained like ownership in the Virginia Military District, between the Little Miami and the Scioto rivers.
The ordinance, or compact, which was the beginning of law in the terri-
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BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
tory, guaranteed the right of religious belief and freedom in worship; the benefit of habeas corpus; the right of trial by jury ; proportionate represen- tation in the legislature; full compensation for property taken or services exacted of the individual for the public benefit in emergency. It inhibited the infliction of cruel or unusual punishments ; the depriving a man of his liberty or property except by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land ; the enactment of any law impairing private contracts or engagements, bona fide, without fraud. Finally it declared that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall ever exist in the territory, other than for the punishment of crimes of which the accused shall have been convicted." It was drafted -by Nathan Dane, a benevolent and patriotic member of the Congress from Massachusetts, and a jurist of ability, who was assisted in some of the articles by Dr. Manas- seh Cutler, agent and director of the Ohio Company. This learned and rev- erend doctor went to Philadelphia to secure the passage of the ordinance, and labored unremittingly until the final vote on its adoption was taken, July 13, 1787. The men who proceeded to erect a State under its wise provisions were not less remarkable than the ordinance. The Ohio Company, composed of general and line officers of the Revolutionary War, and organized in Boston at the instance of Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper, furnished the settlers. These were New England men of high character, dauntless courage, earnest purpose and noble aspirations. They were men of large intelligence and liberal education, embracing in numerous instances a classical university course. They had enjoyed exceptional social advantages ; but their private fortunes had been dissipated by years of patriotic public service in the war for independence. Their minds were pervaded with sentiments of reli- gion and humanity. Most of them possessed a belief in the doctrines of Chris- tianity, and faithfully observed its duties and obligations. They were the personal friends of Washington, bound to him and to each other by common sympathy in the cause of liberty and companionship in its perilous defense. They were men who could be trusted to supplant barbarism with civilization, and lay the foundations of an ideal commonwealth. The Ohio Company bought one million five hundred thousand acres of land on both sides of the Muskingum river at its confluence with the Ohio, agreeing to pay therefor a million dollars in continental scrip, which was current for two-thirds of its par value. On the 7th day of April, 1788, the Mayflower, a craft less preten- tious than its historic prototype, landed the first colony of forty-six New England emigrants at the mouth of the Muskingum. The work of building was at once begun, but the stockade and the block house necessarily preceded the court house and the church. The town site was named Marietta, in honor of Marie Antoinette, queen of France.
The Congress had made provision for the government of the territory by the appointment of General Arthur St. Clair for governor, Colonel Winthrop Sargent, secretary, and Samuel Holden Parsons, John Armstrong and James Mitchell Varnum for judges of the Supreme Court. These were clothed with limited legislative power, and the governor was authorized to appoint subordi-
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BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
nate officers in the civil and military service. The governor and judges, although appointed the preceding autumn, had not yet arrived and the young colony had neither laws nor rulers. Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr., became the lawgiver, pro tempore, by common consent. He drafted a code or system of regulations, on ordinary foolscap, which was carefully tacked up for ready reference on the trunk of a large oak, from which the rough bark had been removed. It is creditable to the self-restraint of the emigrants that history has recorded no infraction of these regulations, which were read and approved by all. Two months later the executive and judicial officers of the territory arrived, except Judge Armstrong, who declined the appointment. He had served with considerable distinction during the Revolution, on the staff of General Gates, and possessed literary as well as legal abilities. He was the author of the sensational "Newburg Letters," which were written to awaken Congress to an appreciation of the services and the destitution of soldiers in the field, and aroused such discontent as required the conservative diplo- macy of the Commander-in-Chief to allay. He was a Pennsylvanian and held responsible offices in his State. Judges Parsons and Varnum exercised the supreme judicial power and, with the governor, or in his absence the secre- tary, performed the functions of a legislature until the arrival in December of John Cleves Symmes, who was appointed in place of Judge Armstrong. The judicial business was light at first, scarcely sufficient for diversion, and so the time of the judges was occupied largely with legislation. They proceeded to enact laws which in their wisdom seemed appropriate, but which Congress declined to approve. The court as a legislative council was empowered only to adopt laws selected from the statutes of the original States, and had no authority to enact new statutes. The Congress assumed that the codes and statutes of the original States were sufficiently comprehensive or elastic to meet all conditions; whereas the experiences of broad-minded, intelligent men encountering the actualities of a new settlement convinced them that original legislation was imperative. It may be regarded as singular in the light of subsequent history that great men in the Congress of the confederacy, who were the especial guardians of the rights of States and the champions of local self-government, should be so careful to reserve for themselves in the general government the prerogative of vetoing or nullifying local legislation by the settlers of the territory; or that they failed to apprehend the marked dissimilarity in the physical conditions and wants of the emigrants in the new territory and those of the citizens of Virginia and Massachusetts. But men of the past were jealous of power and that was a hundred years ago! A law pub- lished by the Supreme Court, sitting as a legislature, September 6, 17SS, defined numerous crimes and provided penalties. Among these were treason, murder, manslaughter, arson, burglary with theft, burglary with personal vio- lence, burglary with homicide, robbery, riots, unlawful assemblies, perjury, subornation of perjury, obstructing authority, receiving stolen goods, larceny, forgery, usurpation, assault and battery, drunkenness (a penalty of five dimes for first offense, and one dollar for each repetition, and one hour in the stocks
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
for neglect or failure to pay the fines). There was an act providing against improper or profane language; another to encourage a religious observance of the Sabbath.
The first duly appointed Court of Common Pleas in the territory held its opening session in Marietta, September 2, 1788, with Generals Rufus Putnam and Benjamin Tupper and Colonel Archibald Crary as the judges. It was an occasion of great interest, attended with pomp and ceremony due an event of such importance. Judges Parsons and Varnum of the Supreme Court graced the occasion by their presence. It was held in the residence of Colonel Bat- telle, the northwest block house of Campus Martius. The parade included the governor and judges and all the inhabitants, and was observed with interest by the Indians of the neighborhood. The procession was formed at the point, half a mile distant from the bloek house. As the photographer had not yet arrived with his art, the scene lacks the modern luminous illustration obtained from snap shots of the kodak in the hands of the enterprising amateur ; but fortunately the graphic description by the local historian, which has been pre- served and handed down, needs no artistic illustration. The procession was led by the high sheriff, Colonel Ebenezer Sproat, with drawn sword in his right hand, and in his left the wand of his office. He was a commanding figure, six feet four inches in height and symmetrically proportioned. He had borne a conspicuous part in numerous battles of the Revolution, and had the bearing of a soldier. The United States officers from Fort Harmer, with their bright uniforms and glistening swords, added to the martial aspect of the scene. The imposing procession, made up almost entirely of generals and colonels and majors and captains, who had by their courage and patriotism established the right of self-government on this continent, marched to celebrate the dawn of juridical history in the little colony. When all were assembled in the hall the solemn services were opened by prayer by Rev. Manasseh Cutler. The court was organized by reading the commissions of the judges, the clerk and the sheriff, after which the latter, by proclamation, declared it open for business. General Putnam presided and charged the grand jury. The duties of clerk were executed by Colonel Meigs, author of the first laws or regulations governing the settlement.
PAUL FEARING was admitted at this term to practice in the courts of the Northwest Territory, received a certificate from Judges Mitchell and Varnum and subscribed to the following oath, written by his own hand: "I swear that I will do no falsehood nor consent to doing any in the courts of justice ; and if I know of any intention to commit any I will give knowledge thereof to the justices of said courts or some of them, that it may be prevented. I will not willingly or wittingly promote or sue any false, groundless or unlaw- ful suit, nor give aid or consent to the same, and I will conduct myself in the office of an attorney within the said courts according to the best of my knowl- edge and discretion, and with all good fidelity, as well to the courts as to my clients, so help me God." He was not a ready speaker, or confident of him- self, as indicated by his first effort in argument before the Supreme Court :
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BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
" May it please your honors - May it please your honors - I have forgotten what I intended to speak." This was the beginning and the end of his argu- ment. He became a successful lawyer, practicing in all the courts of the ter- ritory. He was honest, fair and candid ; substantial and safe rather than brilliant; favored with a cheerful disposition. He was a member of the leg- islature in 1789-90, and elected to Congress in 1801. He served a term as judge of probate and in 1810 was associate judge. He was a native of Massa- chusetts, a graduate of Harvard, read law in Windham, Connecticut, and came to Marietta June, 1788. This chronicle is inserted here because Judge Fearing was the first lawyer admitted to practice in the territory.
Settlements between the Miami rivers were effected through the Miami Company, of which Judge Symmes was the promoter and manager. For their government a code of by-laws defining offenses and prescribing penalties, providing for trial by jury and appointing William McMillan judge, was adopted by a public meeting of citizens. The first term of court in Cincinnati, under a general law of the territory, was beld in February, 1790. George Turner, one of the associate judges sitting in this session, was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the territory in place of Judge Barton. He seems to have made little impression on the history of the times or the records of the court.
Prior to the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, the gen- eral or Supreme Judges of the territory were appointed by Congress; but when that instrument became operative in 1789, by the ratification of three- fourths of the original States, these judges were nominated by the President and by him appointed, with the consent of the Senate. August 20, 1789, S. H. Parsons and John C. Symmes were reappointed, and William Barton was named in place of Varnum, deceased. Judge Barton declined to serve, and the President app inted George Turner, who qualified and served until 1796, when he resigned. Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr., was appointed to fill the vacancy in February, 1798. The successor of Judge Parsons was General Rufus Putnam. He was appointed in March, 1790, and served until Decem- ber, 1796, when he resigned to accept the position of surveyor-general. Joseph Gilman was appointed to the vacant judgeship. Judges Gilman, Symmes and Meigs served until the State was admitted into the Union, in 1803.
JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM, of Welsh descent, was born in Dracut, Mas- sachusetts, 1749; was graduated from Brown University (then Rhode Island College) in 1769, with class honors. After teaching a classical school for a short time he studied law in Providence and settled in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, for practice on the circuit. He served with honorable distinction in the Revolutionary War and attained the rank of brigadier-general. In the prac- tice of law he excelled as an advocate. He was a brilliant orator, a man of large abilities and tender sympathy. He advocated with earnestness and power the ratification of the United States Constitution by his State. His eloquence first charmed the settlers at Marietta in a patriotic oration on the
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BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
Fourth of July, 1788. He possessed that magnetic power which stirs the emotions of the multitude, and secures the sympathy of the individual. His manners were pleasing and his dress fastidious; his tastes literary and sensi- bilities refined. He died of consumption in January, 1789, after a residence of seven months in the west. A letter addressed to his wife, in contemplation of death before meeting her again. is full of pathos and tenderness, while it dis- closes his spirit of perfect trust in a Higher Power and resignation to His will.
SAMUEL HOLDEN PARSONS Was born at Lyme, Connecticut, May 14, 1737. His father, Jonathan Parsons, was a renowned clergyman and his mother a de- scendant of Henry Wolcott. He was graduated from Harvard at the age of nineteen, studied law with his uncle, Governor Matthew Griswold, and upon his admission to the Bar in 1759 settled in Lyme for practice. He was an original thinker and a man of practical views. He is said to have been first to suggest a colonial congress to confer in regard to the general welfare. This was done in a letter to Samuel Adams dated February 3, 1773, and doubtless influenced the subsequent action. The scheme of seizing Ticonderoga, success- fully carried out by Colonel Ethan Allen, was planned by Judge Parsons, ac- cording to a family tradition. It was significant as the first aggressive, hostile act in the Revolution. His services in the war for independence were charac- terized by ability, courage and lofty patriotism, winning a general's commis- io n. He was a director of the Ohio Company and one of the three original judges of the territory appointed by Congress, was reappointed by Washington and made Chief Judge, serving in that capacity until his death, November, 1789. As commissioner of his native State he went into the interior of the territory to treat with the Indians and extinguish their title to lands in the Western Reserve, and as he was returning to Marietta was drowned in descending the rapids of Big Beaver river. Judge Parsons was a man of versatile talents- an able jurist, a capable lawyer and a valuable citizen.
JOHN CLEAVES SYMMES was born on Long Island July 21, 1742. In early life he was successively a teacher, surveyor and lawyer. He removed to New Jersey, where he gained a high reputation in his profession. He was a judge and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and member of the constitutional con- vention held in that State at the beginning of 1788. He was also an officer in the army and a member of the Continental Congress. His service as a mem- ber of the territorial Supreme Court covered a longer period than that of any other judge, and it is quoted as a historical fact that he never missed a term of the Supreme Court of the territory, whether held in Detroit, Vincennes, Cin- cinnati or Marietta. His training in the law before removing west was more thorough than that of his associates and his judicial experience more extended. In connection with Judge Turner and Secretary Sargent he enacted prohibi- tory legislation at Vincennes, to suppress gambling and the sale of spirituous liquors ; but Congress declined to approve the act. Judge Symmes died at Cincinnati in February, 1814. His daughter Anna was the wife of General William Henry Harrison.
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