A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 41

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612

USA > Ohio > Scioto County > A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record > Part 41

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Mr. Richards graduated from the Swarthmore College, Pennsyl- vania in 1875; graduated from Harvard College in 1877; studied law and was admitted to the bar, October, 1879. He was Prosecuting At- torney of Lawrence County from 1880 to 1882. He was City Solici-

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tor of Ironton from 1885 to 1889; Master Commissioner in the Cincin- nati & Eastern Railway case in 1885. In 1882 and 1883 he was en- gaged in the practice of law in Portsmouth, Ohio, as a partner of Hon. J. J. Harper. The style of the firm was Harper & Richards. Mr. Richards during his residence in Portsmouth satisfied the members of the local bar that he was one of the ablest lawyers of his age in the State. He was State Senator from the Eighth Ohio District, compos- ed of Lawrence, Gallia, Meigs and Vinton Counties, from 1890 to 1892 ; Attorney General of Ohio during Governor McKinley's admin- istration, 1892 to 1896; a member of the Commission to Codify the Insurance Laws of Ohio, 1895 to 1896; of the Second General As- sembly of Ohio, in 1896; Special Counsel of the State Board of Ap- praisers and Assessors of Ohio, 1896 to 1898; General Counsel of the State Board of Medical Registrations and Examination of Ohio,, 1896 to 1898. Solicitor General of the United States from July 1, 1897, to the present time. He was married June 12, 1890, to Anna Willard Steece, of Ironton, Ohio. They have two children : John Kelvey, jr., born at Ironton, April 20, 1891, and Anna Christine, born at Colum- bus, September 29, 1894.

Mr. Richards is an ardent Republican and has taken an active part in politics since leaving college. He has been a member of Ward, City, District and State Committees engaged in the active organization and conduct of campaigns. He has been a delegate to City, County, Dis- trict, State and National Conventions. He has spoken for the Re- publican party throughout Ohio and in other states. On becoming State Senator, he made a study of taxation in Ohio, with special ref- erence to constitutional limitations. The accepted opinion was then that, under the Constitution of Ohio, as it stood, nothing but property could be taxed for general revenue. Accordingly when several unsuc- cessful attempts, at great expense, has been made to amend the Con- stitution and enlarge the taxing power, he took the position that no amendment was required, that rights, privileges, franchises and occu- pations could be taxed under the Constitution as it stood. These views have since been embodied in our tax laws, which have added largely to the revenues of the State and have been sustained by the highest courts. Among these are the laws levying taxes upon foreign corporations, upon telegraph, telephone and express companies, upon railroad, street railway, electric light, gas, water, pipe line and similar corporations, upon sleeping car companies, upon freight line and equipment com- panies, in fact practically upon all corporations, foreign and domestic. of a quasi public nature, enjoying peculiar franchises.

In addition to drafting and sustaining these laws, Mr. Richards drafted the present election laws of Ohio, a modification of the Aus- tralian ballot system and sustained them in the courts. He drew the present law relating to the practice of medicine in Ohio, and as the counsel of the State Medical Board maintained its validity in the courts.

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He sustained the constitutionality of the Compulsory Education law of Ohio in the Supreme Court, and subsequently redrafted the law, putting it in its present form. As Solicitor General, he is the represen- tative of the Government before the Supreme Court of the United States and has argued the more important cases which have been sub- mitted to that court during the present administration. In doing this, he has had to meet the leaders of the bar from every section of the country, but has been no less fortunate in the results, than he was as Attorney General of Ohio.

Notable among these cases are the Joint Traffic Association case (171 U. S. 505) argued for the railroad by Mr. Carter, the leader of the New York bar, Mr Phelps, Ex-Minister to England, and Ex- Senator Edmunds, of Vermont ; the case of Nichol v. Anns ( 173 U. S. 509). involving the validity of the Federal Tax on sales at exchange, and board of trade, in which Ex-Secretary Carlisle and Mr. Robbins, of Chicago, presented the opposition to the law, and the Addyston pipe case in December, 1899, in which the Sherman anti-trust was first applied to an industrial combination.

Volney Reeves Row

was born September 17, 1859, at Portsmouth, Ohio, in the house in which he now resides. He is a son of Charles Cavalier Row and Lucina L Squires, his wife. She was a daughter of John Squires. Our subject graduated from the Portsmouth High School. June, 1876. He served a time as Clerk in the post office and for the Mayor. He began the study of law in 1876 under Moore & Newman, and was ad- mitted to the bar October 3. 1883. He has practised in Portsmouth ever since. He was appointed City Solicitor November 6, 1886, to fill a vacancy by the removal of Charles McFarland. The next Spring he was elected without opposition, receiving 1.386 votes. He was re- elected in 1889 without opposition. receiving 1,342 votes. He was Justice of the Peace of Wayne Township from 1891 to 1894. He was re-elected in July, 1894, but resigned April 1, 1895. He was

elected Mayor of Portsmouth on the Republican ticket. in April. 1895, receiving 1.686 votes against 667 for J. B. Carter. He was defeated for the same office in 1897 by Charles C. Glidden by a vote of 1.477 for himself and 1.742 for Glidden. Since that time he has devoted his time to the practice of law. He was married September 15, 1885 to Miss Caroline E. Doerr. They had one daughter. Mary L., and one son, Fred, who died at the age of ten years. Mr Row's law office is at No. 31 t Chillicothe street. He is a Republican, a Knight of Pythias and a 32nd degree Mason. He is a member of the First Presbyterian church of Portsmouth.

John R. Hughes,

Attorney-at-law, was born near Wakefield, Pike County. Ohio, the son of Samuel Hughes and Martha Ann ( Sturgeon) Hughes. His

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boyhood days were spent upon the farm. In the fall of 1878, he matriculated in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, Ohio, and was graduated therefrom in the Scientific Course in 1883. In the fall of the same year, he began the study of law under Bannon & An- derson at Portsmouth, Ohio and was admitted to the Bar in 1886. On the 20th day of May, 1885, he was united in marriage to Jennie C. Chapman, daughter of Nathan A. and Grace Chapman of Twins- burg, Ohio. Three children were born to them. The eldest died at the age of eight and the two living are Grace Eloise and Gladys New- ell. Mr. Hughes is a well read lawyer. As a counsellor there is none better. He is prudent and cautious in all ventures and makes it a rule to take the safe side. He is a business and commercial law- yer. In his political views he has been a Democrat, but being in favor of a Gold Standard he is not sure if his party is with him, but he is certain of his own views. He is a good neighbor and a good citizen. He enjoys the distinction of having given the first order for this work when its canvas began.

Harry Ball

was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, September 5, 1861. He is the son of the late W. H. Ball and Sarah A. Ball, nee Barbee. His ancestors on his father's side came from Scoharie County, New York, his father's brother having been born there, but his father was born at Ironton, Ohio. On his mother's side he comes from the Barbees of Vir- ginia, his mother's people having lived in Culpepper County. His boy- hood and youth were uneventful. He was educated in the Ports- mouth Public Schools, being a graduate of the class of 1881 of the High School. His father was a teamster and young Ball spent much of his spare time upon a wagon, working as few young men of this city ever worked even up to the day of his graduation. After com- pleting his course in the High School, he spent some five years teach- ing school in Scioto County, and in the public night schools of the city. He read law with Judge Noah J. Dever and Hon. Daniel T. Ryan and was admitted to the bar, March 1, 1887. He was Clerk of the Board of Education of the City of Portsmouth. In 1891, he was elected City Solicitor by the Republicans, and re-elected in 1893. As the Solicitor of the City, he discharged his duties fearlessly, success- fully, prosecuting several injunction suits to establish opinions that he had given the city council that it did not follow. In 1896, he was elected Probate Judge of Scioto County and re-elected in 1899, for a second term of three years. In politics, Judge Ball has always been an ardent Republican, and began work in 1884 in the famous Blaine campaign. He has taken an active part in nearly all campaigns since. Religiously he is a Methodist and for twenty-five years has been a member of Bigelow M. E. Church. On August 30, 1893, he was united in marriage with Miss Nora Morris, the youngest daughter of

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the late Stout Morris of Union Mills. Her mother, whose maiden name was Josephine McQuiston, is still living at the old homestead. To Judge Ball and wife have been born four children : Margaret M., Emily Hortense, Harry Morris and Richard Morris. The last died on the 24th day of October, 1901, aged about seven months.

George Merrill Osborn

was born at Wheelersburg, Ohio, October 7, 1858. His father, Arthur Patterson Osborn, was a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, born September 2, 1814 and died at Wheelersburg, Ohio, September 18, 1887. His father was a tanner by trade and moved in 1840 to Spring- field, Ohio, and in 1847 moved to Pond Creek, Scioto County, where he built a tannery for Smith and Davis and was employed there as Su- perintendent for several years. In 1858, he moved to Wheelersburg, where our subject was born, and took charge of the tannery of George IV. Flanders. Soon after this Mr. Flanders was elected Auditor of Scioto County. Mr. Osborn bought the tannery and remained in that until 1880 when he retired from business. Our subject's mother, Elizabeth Way, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Septem- ber 3, 1813, the daughter of Michael and Susan Way. Arthur Patter- son Osborn and Elizabeth Way were married February 25, 1833. Their surviving children are: Stephen, Lewellyn, Arthur Patterson and our subject. There are seven deceased. Arthur Patterson Osborn enlisted in Company M, 7th Ohio Cavalry when only sixteen years of age, and served eighteen months. He then received an appointment to the Naval Academy through Hon. H. S. Bundy and graduated in 1869 .. He served on various vessels for a number of years and retired December 8, 1898 on account of bad health. George M. Osborn at- tended the public schools at Wheelersburg and took a course in the Iron City Business College at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, which he finished in 1875. He taught school ten consecutive years. In 1873, he read law with Hon. A. T. Holcomb for one year. In 1877, he returned to Portsmouth and read law with T. C. Anderson and was admitted in June, 1887. He was appointed County School Examiner in 1885 and served until 1891. He served five years as a Trustee of Porter Town- ship from 1886 to 1891, and was a member of the Wheelersburg School Board for three years, from 1888 to 1891. He was a member of the Portsmouth City Council from 1896 to 1898 and again from 1900 to. 1902 : a member of the City Board of Health from 1894 to 1896; a member of the City Board of School Examiners since 1895, and of the City Hospital Board, since 1897.

After he was admitted to the bar, he formed a partnership with Mr. T. C. Anderson, which continued until he was elected Probate Judge and took the office in Februarv. 1891. He was re-elected in 1893, and served until February, 1897. He was married, June 4, 1890, to Carrie E. Feurt, daughter of Henry and Mary Feurt. He is a member

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HISTORY OF SCIOTO COUNTY.

of the Masonic lodge, the Mystic Shrine, Knights of Pythias and the Elks. He is a Republican.

Samuel Miles Johnson

was born November 14, 1853. He is the son of Hon. George Johnson, a member of the Portsmouth bar and Mary Ruth Tracy, his wife, a daughter of Samuel Miles Tracy. He was the second son and third child of their marriage. He attended the Portsmouth public schools until he completed the B course in the High School in 1871. He then went to Kenyon College and entered the preparatory class. He entered the Freshman class in September, 1872, and was advanced until March, 1875 when he came home and began the study of law. He studied one month and then went into the United States. revenue office with General B. F. Coates, Collector and remained there until 1880. From 1880 to 1884, he was a Deputy under Marcus Boggs, U. S. Col- lector. In 1882, he went into the insurance business with General Benjamin F. Coates, the firm being Coates & Johnson and they con- tinued in this until 1886, when he sold out to John K. Duke. He had studied law for one year prior to his father's death and began studying law again and was admitted October 9, 1890. In 1898, he was appointed Referee in Bankruptcy in Scioto County. He served until September, 1901. At the latter date, he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue for the LIth District of Ohio. He was a member of Council of Portsmouth from the Second Ward from 1882 to 1881. December 3, 1884, he was married to Noreh Heron of Connersville. Indiana. They have five children : Emma Katherine, Heron Miles, Sherrard McCarty, Kenyon Monroe and Karoleene. He is a Republican, a Knight Templar, a 32nd degree Mason, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Portsmouth.

Henry T. Bannon

was born June 5. 1867. in Portsmouth, Ohio, the son of Hon. James WV. Bannon and Mary ( Smith) Bannon. He attended the Ports mouth public schools until the fall of 1885. He was a student at the Ohio State University during the ensuing vear. In 1886, he entered the University of Michigan, taking the literary course, and grad- vated in 1880. During his college days, he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. After graduation he studied law under his father and was admitted to the bar in March, 1801. He went into partnership with his father under the firm name of Bannon & Bannon. He was a member of the City Council for three years and was its President in 1895. He was elected Prosecuting Attorney in 1896 and re-elected in 1809. He was married May 25, 1893, to Miss Jessie Damarin, daughter of L. C. Damarin. They have two children : Eliz .- abeth and Louis Damarin. He is a Republican. He is a most in- defatiguable worker and aims to bring out of his cases all that is

FRANK B. FINNEY.

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in them. When he does not win his case it is altogether the fault of the court in not being able to see it as Mr. Bannon does. He knows everybody and is very popular.

Oscar William Newman,

son of George O. and Mrs. Clay B. Newman, was born at Portsmouth, Ohio, June 14, 1867. He attended the Portsmouth schools for the course of twelve years and graduated from the High School, June. 1884. He then attended Kenyon College and remained till the close of his junior year in 1887. He began the study of law in the Fall of 1889, under his father and was admitted to the bar in October, 1891. He began the practice of law in Portsmouth, Ohio, alone and so con- tinued it until September, 1893, when he formed a partnership with the Hon. A. C. Thompson. This continued until November, 1898, when it was dissolved by the appointment of Judge Thompson as Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Since then, he has continued his law practice in Portsmouth alone. On June 18, 1894, he was married to Judge Thompson's eldest daugh- ter, Charl. He has one daughter Katharine L. In politics, Mr. Newman is a Democrat. and in religion, an Episcopalian. He is highly esteemed as an excellent young lawyer and bids fair to establish a distinguished reputation in his profession.

Arthur Hurd Bannon

was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, on August 16, 1868, the son of the Hon. James W. Bannon and Mary Smith, his wife. He attended the public schools until 1884, studied under Prof. J. A. I. Lowes for two years, and in September, 1886, entered the Michigan University in the Philosophy course. He graduated in 1890. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1892. He is a member of the firm of Bannon & Bannon, attorneys-at-law. He was a member of the Board of Education of Portsmouth, Ohio, from 1895 to 1901. He has laid off ten acres in the Brushart Addition and subsequently laid off the Lincoln Addition of six and one-half acres, and has been engaged in selling lots as well as practicing law. He is an active, energetic young lawyer.

Frank B. Finney

was born November 10, 1869, in Vernon Township, Scioto County, Ohio. His father is Capt. Andrew J. Finney, and his mother's maid- en name is Levina Wait, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Wait. He received his education in the country schools until he was twelve years of age. He then attended school in the city of Portsmouth, until he was sixteen years of age. At the age of seventeen, he went to work in a railroad and insurance office where he remained one year. He then worked two years as bookkeeper for C. P. Tracy & Company, Wholesale Boot & Shoe House.

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HISTORY OF SCIOTO COUNTY.

He then went to Lebanon, Ohio, to attend the National Normal Uni- versity, was there two years and graduated in June, 1891, in the scien- tific course. In October, 1891, he entered the Cincinnati Law School, and graduated on the 31st of May, 1893, and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio on the Ist of June, 1893. He received a prize of $75.00 in the Law School for the best essay writ- . ten in a Class of one hundred. Directly after admission to the bar he practiced there four years until 1897, when he came to Portsmouth and entered into partnership with the Hon. A. T. Holcomb. This continued for two years, when he opened an office of his own, which is located at rooms 9 and 10, Damarin Building. He was married July 1I, 1895, to Miss Belle Burnham, daughter of Daniel and Jennie Burnham of Cincinnati, Ohio. He has one child, Frank Burnham, born December 22, 1899. He served on the Republican Executive Committee of Cincinnati from 1894 to 1897. He is a Republican in his political affiliations, and a member of the Methodist Church. He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias, Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Modern Woodmen.

Mr. Finney is one of the most energetic, industrious, tireless members of the Portsmouth bar. When he undertakes any task he will not fail in it, unless his failure is due to outside causes he cannot control and cannot anticipate. He is a diligent student and keeps himself well informed in all the literature of the law. He possesses ex- cellent judgment of men and of the motives which control their ac- tion. He comes of a long line of honorable revolutionary ancestry and has inherited the good qualities of every generation of them since the Seventeenth Century. He is an excellent trial lawyer, bright, quick and resourceful. He is a forceful advocate and if he lives and has his health his ultimate position in his profession will be at the top. It is not safe to predict what Mr. Finney may accomplish, for he is likely to exceed the expectations of his most enthusiastic friends. and no one has any more than he.

Harry Ward Miller

was born March 24, 1869, the son of Captain Isaac and Ellen ( Ward) Miller. His mother was the daughter of John L. Ward. He at- tended the public schools of Portsmouth until 1886. He then at- tended Prof. Lowes' school for two years. After that he spent eigh- teen months in the office of Colonel Floyd Smith and eighteen months in Florida as private secretary to the Superintendent of a railroad. In 1891, he commenced reading law with Harper, Searl and Milner and was admitted in June, 1893. He went to practicing and in January 1894 formed a partnership with F. C. Searl under the firm name of Searl and Miller. This continued until 1900. He then began practis- ing alone and has an office with Judge Dever. He was City Solicitor from 1897 to 1899 and a member of the City Council of Portsmouth

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from 1900 to 1902. In the Spring of 1902, he was nominated by the Republican' party for the office of Prosecuting Attorney of Scioto County. He will no doubt be elected if he lives. He was married January 3. 1901 to Miss Anna Mclaughlin, daughter of Robert Mc- Laughlin of California, Ohio. They have one child, a son, Ward Mc- Laughlin. He resides at 360 East Fifth street, Portsmouth, Ohio. Mr. Miller is well read in his profession. He is careful, prudent and conservative in the management of all business and bids fair to be one of the most prominent business men of Portsmouth as well as to at- tain one of the highest positions in his profession. The foregoing is from the editor of this work. The following is from another of his colleagues at the bar, who has had the opportunity to know what he speaks.

"Harry Ward Miller has succeeded and will continue to succeed, as well because of his intense earnestness, great industry and strict in- tegrity, as because of his great natural abilities. Both physical and mental he is the prototype of his honored grandfather, John L. Ward. With Mr. Miller there is no hesitation, evasion or equivoca- tion. It is either so or not so. He does not go to extremes. He is one of the safest of men. You can always tell where to find him. He never goes off on a tangent. In the language of the turf he is the kind that describes the safest and most trusty horse, "He can be left unhitch- ed and found when wanted." True as steel to his trust, to his duties and his friends, firm as a rock, yet as mild mannered and pleasant in his address as a Chesterfield, using on all occasions choice and force- ful language ; generous to all, he is a man who could well serve as a model to his fellows and his friends so regard him."

Thomas Carlysle Beatty

was born December 7, 1868 at Powellsville, Ohio. He is the son of Robert Beatty and Armina ( Remy) Beatty. His paternal grandfather was Reinard Beatty from Pennsylvania. His grandfather Thomas Remy was from France. Our subject is the oldest of three children. His father moved to Howard Furnace when he was three years old and worked in the mines there. At the age of ten, young Thomas went to work in the clay mines and worked there until he was twenty years of age. He had three months school out of each year but stud- ied at home, and at the age of twenty he obtained a certificate to teach. He taught school first at Bonser's Run, two years at Friend- ship, two years at Sugar Grove and one year at Hogan's. He attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, in 1891 and 1892. In 1891 he began reading law and was admitted to the bar December 7, 1894. He taught till May, 1895 and commenced practice in Ports- mouth. He was Clerk of the Board of Education of Portsmouth in 1898 and 1899 and was elected Solicitor in 1901. He is a Republican and a member of the Sixth Street M. E. Church. He was married

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February 27. 1896 to Margaret Appel, daughter of Theodore Appel and Mary Brant, his wife. They have two children : Charles Edwin. aged five and Howard Holcomb, aged two. Mr. Beatty is one of the hardest workers at the bar. There is no limit to his industry or dili- gence in his chosen business. He avoids every hindrance to success and will no doubt achieve it. He has a wide acquaintance in the county and has the capacity and ability to accomplish the most difficult tasks in his profession.

James Sheridan Thomas

was born in Meigs Township, Adams County, Ohio, one of the young- est sons of George A. Thomas and Sarah J. Wittenmeyer, his wife. He has a twin brother, Professor Stephen S. Thomas, of Bloomfield, Missouri. He attended school in the district of his home and labored on his father's farm until he was seventeen years of age, when he at- tended North Liberty Academy for one year. In 1889 and 1890, he attended the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, where he graduated in the Scientific course in 1890. From the fall of 1890 until Spring of 1892, he taught school at Otway, Ohio. From the Fall of 1892 till the Spring of 1894. he had charge of the schools at Sciotoville. In 1893, he taught a summer school at Wheelersburg. He began the study of law with the Hon. Ulric Sloane at Winchester in the summer of 1892, and kept it up until the Fall of 1894, when he entered the Cincinnati Law School, and attended that during the Fall, Winter and Spring of 1894 and 1895. He stood fifth in a class of one hundred and fifteen in his studies.

He was admitted to the bar, May 31, 1895, on his twenty-fifth birthday. On July 1, 1895, he began the practice of law in the city of Portsmouth, where he has since resided. In politics, he is a Demo- crat, and has always taken an active part in political contests. In 1895, he was the candidate of his party for State Senator in the Sev- enth Senatorial District, but was defcated by Elias Crandall, the Re- publican candidate. He canvassed the district in the interest of his party. In the Spring of 1899, there was a special election to vote on the adoption of a new charter for the city of Portsmouth. This oc- took strong grounds against the charter, and spoke against it in pub-

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A history of Scioto County, Ohio, together with a pioneer record, Part 41

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913 Publication date: 1903 Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans Number of Pages: 1612

Author: Evans, Nelson W. (Nelson Wiley), 1842-1913
Publication date: 1903
Publisher: Portsmouth, O. N. W. Evans
Number of Pages: 1612