USA > Ohio > Adams County > A history of Adams County, Ohio, from its earliest settlement to the present time, including character sketches of the prominent persons identified with the first century of the country's growth > Part 20
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1876 to Thomas W. Lewis
1876 to 1877 Allen T. Cowen
1877 to 1882.
David Tarbell
1882 to 1892 D. W. C. Loudon
1892 to 1897
Henry Collings
Additional judges fifth district :
1871 to 1876
David Tarbell
1878 to 1888 Allen T. Cowen
1888 to 1898. Frank Davis
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Seventh district since September 1, 1896:
1896-1897
Noah J. Dever
1896-1899
W. D. James
1899-1906.
W. H. Middleton
1897-1902.
Henry Collings
1897-1902.
John C. Milner
Wyliss Silliman
was the first presiding common pleas judge to sit in Adams County after the State was organized. He occupied the bench from April 15, 1803, to June, 1804. He was born in Stratford, Connecticut, October 8, 1777, and died in Zanesville, Ohio, November 13, 1842. His wife was Dora Webster Cass, daughter of Major Cass, and sister of Gen. William Lewis Cass. He was married to her July 14, 1802. When a young man, he removed to western Virginia, and, in 1800, edited a paper there, and was a strong Federalist in the contest between Jefferson and Adams.
The struggle was too much for him, and he moved to Washington County, Ohio. He was a member of the first Legislature of Ohio from . Washington County. In that body he was elected presiding judge of the second circuit, composed of Adams, Scioto, Ross, Franklin, Fair- field, and Gallia. It was too humdrum a place for him, and he re- signed in 1804, and located at Zanesville, and was the first lawyer there, and in the next year, Silliman, Cass, and Herrick were the only resident lawyers. In 1805, he was appointed register of the Zanesville land office, and held that until 1811. In 1811 he was in the commission to select the State Capital.
In 1824 he was a candidate for United States Senator, and re- ceived 44 votes, to 58 for General W. H. Harrison, who was elected. In 1825 he was in the State Senate, from Muskingum County, and served one term. In 1826 he was again a candidate for United States Senator, and received 45 votes, to 54 for Benjamin Ruggles, who was elected. He was a member of the House from Muskingum County in 1828 and 1829. From 1832 to 1834 he was solicitor of the Treasury, appointed by President Jackson.
He was a great natural orator, but his early education was de- fective. His legal attainments were not of a high order. He was a great reader, and read everything which came in his way. He was of no use in a case until it came to be argued. He did not examine wit- nesses or prepare pleadings, but advocacy was his forte. He was in- different to his personal appearance, and looked as though his clothes had been pitched on him. He was as sportive and playful as a boy. In all criminal cases, in breach of promise or seduction cases, he was uni- formly retained, but it was in the great criminal cases where his power as an advocate was demonstrated. He was stout and well formed, above medium height. He had two sons, who came to the bar, and he had a son-in-law, C. C. Gilbert, a lawyer in Zanesville. He was one of the distinguished figures of his time.
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Levin Belt
was a practicing lawyer in Chillicothe, under the Territorial Govern- ment. He was born in England, but the date of his birth has not been preserved. He was admitted to practice law, and took the oath of office at Washington, Adams County, March 2, 1802. He was the first prosecuting attorney of Ross County, and was allowed from $15 to $50 per term for his services. In June, 1804, he was elected presid- ing judge of the second circuit, in place of Wylliss Silliman, resigned. He served until February, 1805, when Robert F. Slaughter was elected to succeed him. On January 9, 1807, Robert F. Slaughter was re- moved by impeachment, and Levin Belt was elected and succeeded him February 7, 1807. He served until February 10, 1810, when he was succeeded by John Thompson. It is said he was a reasonably good and satisfactory judge of the common pleas, but that he failed as a practitioner at the bar. From the bench he descended to the mayor- alty of Chillicothe, and in that office and that of justice of the peace, he served many years. While he was a justice of the peace, there was a statute in force forbidding licensed attorneys to appear before justices of the peace. Soon after this, Mr. Richard Douglas, an attorney of Chillicothe, appeared before him to argue a motion to dismiss a case. Squire Belt said, "Dick, Dick, don't you know the law? You must not appear before me. Get behind me and make your speech." Douglas complied with his order, and got behind the justice and made his speech.
Mr. Belt was tall, broad-shouldered, muscular, without surplus flesh, dark brown hair sprinkled only with gray, and somewhat ruddy of complexion. His presence as a justice in the exercise of his office was awe-inspiring. He removed from Chillicothe to Washington City in 1828, and died there soon after. The first case submitted to him in Muskingum County in 1804 was Samuel Connar, plaintiff, against James Sprague, defendant, in slander. Damages claimed, $500. Ver- dict for the plaintiff, $300.
Robert F. Slaughter
was the third presiding judge of Adams County. He was born in Cul- pepper County, Virginia, in 1770. Of his childhood nothing is known, but, at the age of seventeen, he came to Kentucky and volunteered as an Indian fighter. He went to Chillicothe as early as 1796, at the founding of the city, and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1799, and began practice there. He seemed to have traded and trafficked about considerable in lands, as everyone did at that time, but was a poor manager. In 1800 he purchased a farm about one and one-half miles south of Lancaster, and made his home there until his death. He was a merchant at first, but gave up that business and opened a law office in Chillicothe.
In 1802 he was a candidate from his county for the State Constitu- tional Convention, but was third in the race.
He was careless about his obligations, and in 1803 and 1804 he was sued for debts many times. He was elected presiding judge in 1805. He was elected to the State Senate 1803-1805 from Fairfield County, February 7, in place of Wyliss Silliman, resigned. His circuit was
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very large, and his salary very small. He had the second circuit and had to ride horseback to his appointments. The salary was only $750, and the creeks were without bridges. There were no ferries, and the swimming was risky. The judge would miss his courts, and the Leg- islature determined to make an object lesson of him. Legislatures are fond of displaying their power, and the one of 1807 was no exception to the rule. January 8, 1807, charges were filed against him in im- peachment.
I. He failed to attend the March term, 1805, in Adams County.
2. Failing to attend same term in Scioto County.
3. Failing to attend spring term, 1805, in Gallia County.
4. Failing to attend July term, same year, in Franklin County.
5. Failing to attend fall term, 1805, in Scioto County.
6. Failing to attend fall term, 1805, in Athens County.
7. Failing to attend spring term, 1806, in Highland County.
8. Failing to punctually attend spring term, 1806, in Adams
County.
9. Failing to attend spring term, 1806, in Scioto County.
10. Failing to attend spring term, 1806, in Gallia County.
II. Failing to attend summer term, 1806, in Adams County.
12. Failing to attend summer term, 1806, in Athens County.
13. Failing to attend summer term, 1806, in Gallia County.
14. Failing to punctually attend the fall term of Fairfield County
in 1806.
15. Failing to attend the fall term, 1806, in Franklin County.
Abraham Shepherd, as Speaker of the House, signed the articles. On January 9, 1807, Hough and McArthur were appointed a committee to prepare rules to govern the trial. Slaughter appeared in person and asked two or three days to prepare for the trial. He was granted to the following Monday to answer. In answer he alleged he was not charged with any misdemeanor and could not, by law, be bound to answer. To the first three charges he pleaded ill health. He denied the fourth, and said he did punctually attend. To the fifth, he said that after attending court in Adams County, he went to Paris, Kentucky, to attend to some business, and expected to reach Scioto in time to at- tend court, but on returning to the Ohio River, at Brook's Ferry, could not cross. That he went two miles below to be ferried, and, be- ing impatient, rode into the corn field after the ferryman, and this un- expected delay, against his will, prevented him from attending the court until the second day, and there being little business to be done, court was adjourned. In answer to the sixth, he said he was well acquainted with the docket, and there was no civil case ready for trial, and not more than one or two being imprisoned in the county for misdemeanors, and the court would be obliged to pardon those rather than expose the weakness of the laws, since their sentence could not be enforced. That he had applied for a tract of land, for which he had the deposit money, and was compelled by law to pay the fourth within forty days or forfeit his application, and was compelled to attend to it. To the seventh, he stated that he had started from Lancaster, his home, but that his horse became foundered at Pickaway Plains, and his funds and his salary were
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not sufficient to buy another. He finally borrowed a horse to ride to Adams County. He answered the ninth charge that he had only bor- rowed the horse to ride to Adams County, and could not procure an- other to go to Scioto County. That he is afflicted with ill health in the spring, and had the pleurisy, and did not attend the spring term in Gallia for that reason. That the rivers were high, and he would be compelled to swim some creeks and ford others, and his health would not permit it. To the eleventh, he answered that while in Highland County, his horse broke out of pasture, and he could not be found, and he was obliged to return to Chillicothe, supposing his horse had gone that way, but he did not, and he procured a horse of Joseph Kerr, to ride to Scioto County, on conditional purchase, but the horse was not able to carry him on to Gallia County if it were to save him from ruin, and was compelled to trade horses, on which he made the balance of the circuit. He denied the twelfth charge. His answer to the thir- teenth was that his farm was advertised to sell, and not having the money to save it, was obliged to raise it, which he did in time to save it. He denied the fourteenth charge. To the fifteenth, he answered that he attended the Franklin term two days, and then obtained the Associates' consent to be absent the remainder of the term. He was compelled to return to New Lancaster before going to Ross County in order to take money to complete the payment for his land before the court in Ross County would convene. He asked for a continuance to the first Monday of December next to secure Joseph Kerr, Doctor Spencer, and George Shoemaker, witnesses. Four only voted in favor of this. Mr. Brush was admitted as counsel for respondent. Henry Brush, Jessup M. Couch, Wm. Creighton, Joseph Foos, James Kil- bourn, Wm. Irwin, and Lewis Cass, witnesses for the prosecution. Re- spondent read the deposition of Samuel Wilson. Mr. Beecher was counsel fo the State. The trial began January 26, 1807, and lasted until the twenty-eighth. On the question of his being guilty of neg- lect of official duty, the yea vote was: Claypool, Corre, Hempstead, Hough, Jewett. McArthur, McFarland, Sargeant, Smith, Wood, and the Speaker, Thomas Kirker. Mr. Schofield alone voted he was not guilty. On January 29, the respondent was called, but made no an- swer, though three times solemnly called. The speaker delivered the judgment of the court, that he had been found guilty of neglect of duty and should be removed from office. His removal did not seem to affect his health or spirits, or his standing among the people of Fairfield County, where he resided. He served four years as prosecuting attor- ney. He was elected to the Senate in 1810, from Fairfield, Knox, and Licking.
He was elected to the House from Fairfield County in 1817, 1819, and 1821. In 1828 he was elected to the Senate, and re-elected in 1830. While in the Legislature he voted for the School System and the Canal System.
He was eccentric and absent-minded, and the story is told of him that once when plowing, it became time for him to go to the Legisla- ture. Leaving the plow in the middle of the field, mounting the horse, with one of his own shoes on and the other off, he rode away. He was of medium height, dressed plainly, and always wore his hair in a
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queue. He was a Democrat of the old school, a man of great strength of character, a bold speaker, and a natural orator, and in speaking was capable of making deep impressions on his audience. His public record was clear, notwithstanding the Legislature undertook to blacken it. He once said, "The best rule in politics is to wait until the other party declares itself, then take the opposite side."
He married a Miss Bond, who was devotedly attached to the Methodist Church, but he was not a member of any church. Their children were William, Terencia, Ann, Fields, and Frances, all de- ceased, and two surviving, Mrs. Mariah Dennison, of Los Angeles, Cali- fornia, and Thomas S. Slaughter, of Olanthe, Missouri. The judge survived until October 24, 1846, when he died at the age of 76 years. He is interred in the country cemetery near his home.
In view of the record of the Ohio Legislature in the matter of im- peachments under the first Constitution of the State, we do not consider it any reflection on Judge Slaughter that his impeachment was success- ful, and had he lived in our day, his answer to the impeachment articles would have been held good, and any Legislature presenting articles of impeachment against him, such as are given above, would be deemed in the wrong.
John Thompson
was the presiding common pleas judge of Adams County, from April 9, 1810, to March 29, 1824. He was a resident of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. He located there in 1806 from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. He was elected presiding judge in 1810, re-elected in 1817, and served until 1824. His circuit was composed of Fraklin, Madison, Fayette, Highland, Adams, Scioto, Gallia and Ross. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and an elder in it. He was also a total abstainer from alcoholic drinks. He was an acute lawyer, but narrow-minded, firm to stubbornness, of considerable reading and of much readiness in the application of learning, much influenced by his likes and dislikes.
In 1812, he was impeached by the House and tried by the Senate. The following were the charges exhibited against him :
First. Because he allowed the attorneys but ten minutes to a side in a larceny case in Highland County and when they objected, said that if they did not take it, he would allow them but five minutes to a side.
Second. Because he refused to allow an attorney to testify for his client in a case of usurpation in office, the attorney having offered to testify.
Third. Because he ordered certain court constables to knock down certain by-standers with their staves and gave no reason there- for.
Fourth. Because he allowed a bill of exceptions contrary to the facts.
Fifth. Because he declared in an assault and battery case that the attorneys had no right to argue the facts to a jury except with the per- mission of the Court, and then when overruled by his associates, im- patiently told the jury to go on.
Sixth. Because in a larceny case when the jury came back into court and wanted to re-examine the witnesses he refused them and sent
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them back telling them the case was too trifling to take up the time of the Court.
Seventh. Because he ordered a jury to be sworn in a robbery case, after they had all stood up and said they had made up their minds, and they found the defendant guilty without leaving the box.
Eighth. Because he said publicly the people were their own worst enemies ; that they were cursed brutes and worse than brutes.
Ninth. Because at Hillsboro, he had refused to sign a bill of ex- ceptions and had refused to let an appeal be docketed.
Tenth. Because at a trial at Gallipolis, he had unjustly and arbi- trarily allowed an attorney but twenty-five minutes for an argument to the jury, and then when the limit of time was reached, ordered him to sit down saying the jury would do justice in the case.
Eleventh. Because at Gallipolis, he ordered the prosecuting attor- ney not to let any testimony go before the grand jury until he knew what it was.
Twelfth. Because he said to the grand jury at Circleville that our government was the most corrupt and perfidious in the world and the people were their own enemies. That they were devils in men's clothing.
The trial on these charges took nine days and witnesses were brought from each county where the transaction occurred. Henry Baldwin and Wylliss Silliman were attorneys for the State and Lewis Cass, John McLean and Samuel Herrick, for the defense. He was acquitted on all of the charges by a large majority and was re-elected by the Legislature in 1817 .. In 1821 and 1823, billious fevers prevailed at Chillicothe and many cases were fatal. Many thought the disease was yellow fever. Judge Thompson had a large family and became quite fearful of the disease attacking them. Thompson took up the theory that ammonia destroyed the germs of this fever. Therefore, he seriously proposed moving his whole family to and living in a tavern stable, among the horses, during the sickly season. Vigorous protests from Mrs. Thompson resulted in a compromise, by which the family re- mained in the mansion, but were required to spend an hour each morn- ing on the manure pile, to inhale the fumes which arose from it.
Soon after removing from the bench, Judge Thompson removed to Louisiana, where he purchased a plantation and some negroes. There he died in 1833, near Fort Adams, just over the line in Mississippi.
Joshua Collett
was the presiding common pleas judge in Adams County, Ohio, from March 24, 1824, to March 16, 1829.
He was born in Berkley County, Virginia, November 20, 1781. He obtained a good English education and studied law at Martinsburg, Vir- ginia. At the age of twenty-one, he removed to the Northwest Terri- tory. He stopped at Cincinnati where he remained a year. June, 1803, he removed to Lebanon, Ohio. He was modest, diffident and unassum- ing, so much so that many predicted he would not succeed as a lawyer. He traveled in Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont, Montgomery, Miami, Greene and Champaign counties and practiced law in each of them. His knowledge of the law and sound judgment made him a suc-
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cessful practitioner. In 1807, he was appointed prosecuting attorney in the judicial circuit in which he resided, and held the office for ten years, when he was succeeded by his pupil, Thomas Corwin. The diligence, integrity and ability with which he discharged his office made him widely known and universally respected. In 1817, he was elected presiding judge of the common pleas and served for seven years and was re- elected. In 1824, Adams County was placed in his district and so con- tinued until he resigned in March, 1829, to accept an election to the office of Supreme Judge. He served one term until April, 1836, and then retired to a farm near Lebanon, where he resided until his death.
In 1836 and in 1840, he was on the Whig electoral ticket and voted each time for General Harrison. He was for seventeen years a mem- ber of the Board of Trustees of Miami University and in that time man- ifested a great interest in the welfare of that institution.
In 1808, he was married to Eliza Van Horne. William R. Collett was his only son and child.
Judge Collett was a member of the Baptist Church. He was be- nevolent and kind hearted. His integrity was the crowning glory of his life. He died August 25, 1855, and is interred at Lebanon, Ohio.
George J. Smith.
was president common pleas judge for Adams County, March 16, 1829, to March 17, 1834. He was born near Newton, Hamilton County, May 22, 1799. His father came from Powhatan County, Virginia, in 1798, and died in 1800, leaving his mother a widow with nine children of which he was the youngest. He qualified himself as a school teacher and followed that vocation. In April. 1818, he began the study of law under Thomas Corwin, and was admitted to the bar June 20, 1820. He began to practice at Lebanon where he always resided.
On April 9, 1822, he was married to Miss Hannah W. Freeman, widow of Thomas Freeman, at one time a member of the Lebanon bar. She died March 25 1866.
In 1825, he was elected to the Legislature from Warren County and re-elected in 1826 and 1827. In 1827, he was defeated for the Legisla- ture by Col. John Biggers, who sat in that body longer than any other person since the organization of the State, twenty-two years, and Smith was defeated by a scratch. In 1829, he was elected presiding judge to succeed Joshua Collett. This honor was unsought and unexpected by him. He served seven years, though Adams and Highland were de- tached from his circuit after he had served five years. He was always a Whig and was defeated for re-election by one vote. All the senators and representatives from his judicial circuit, irrespective of party, voted for him.
In 1836, he was elected State Senator and re-elected in 1838. In 1837, he was elected Speaker of the Senate. In 1850, he was elected to the Constitutional Convention, and served in that body on the judiciary committee. He was, however, opposed to the Constitution and voted against its adoption. In 1850, his son, James M. Smith, who is now one of the circuit judges in the first circuit and has been since 1884, became
12a
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his partner in the law practice. In 1858, he was elected a common pleas judge and re-elected in 1863. He retired at the close of his sec- ond term in 1869. He died in April, 1878.
John Winston Price.
was born in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1804. He was prepared for college by a Rev. Blair. At seventeen years, he entered William and Mary College and graduated with honors four years after. He studied law in Richmond, Virginia, under the tuition of John Marshall, Chief Justice of the United States, and was admitted to the bar in that city. He came to Ohio in 1827 and located in Columbus for the practice of the law.
In 1830, he married the eldest daughter of Judge John A. Mc- Dowell, of Columbus. In 1831, he located in Hillsboro and practiced law with the late Gen. Richard Collins until 1834, when he became pres- ident judge of the common pleas district composed of Adams, Brown, Clermont, Highland and Fayette, having been elected the winter pre- vious. His work was laborious and arduous, but he was an honest and faithful judge. He retired from the bench in 1841 and gave up the practice of the law. He was a careful and prudent man in business and accumulated a handsome fortune. He died March 4, 1865.
Owen T. Fishback.
was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, in the year 1791. His father was John Fishback who emigrated to Bracken County and settled on the north fork of the Licking River, not far from Augusta. While rid- ing one of his father's horses, it became unmanageable and threw him off. The result was the compound fracture of the thigh bone, which healed, stiffening the knee joint and shortening the leg. This unfitted him for farm work and he took a position as writing clerk in the office of Gen. Payne, clerk of Bracken County. By the advice of Martin Mar- shall, he studied law and was admitted to the bar of Kentucky in about 1810. He then removed to the town of Williamsburg, which was at that time the county seat of Clermont County, Ohio. Here he met and married Caroline Huber. a daughter of Jacob and Phoebe Huber. He was then elected to the Senate of Ohio, serving one term and was in- strumental in procuring the passage of a law transferring the county seat from Williamsburg to Batavia, and he moved there and remained until his death in 1865. He was always an uncompromising Whig, and was very much chagrined at the defeat of Clay in 1844. He was the contemporary and personal friend of Senator Thomas Morris, Gen. Thomas L. Hamer, Thomas Corwin, and practiced law in the circuit composed of Adams, Brown, Fayette, Highland and Clermont counties. In 1841, he was appointed judge of that circuit by the Legislature of Ohio and served seven years. At that time, the judges of the common pleas court, over which he presided, had the power to grant or refuse licenses for the retail of intoxicating liquors. He absolutely refused to grant a license during the seven years he was presiding judge, and for this he was severely criticised by the keepers of the leading hotels, where he was compelled to stop while attending court. Things were made so
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