USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 23
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" Were I called upon to fix in a word William Baker's most striking qualities, I should say, unhesitatingly, his unfailing good sense and his remark- able kindness and amiability. When difficult legal problems were presented to him he seemed always, as by intuition, to perceive the vital question, and point out the direct road to its solution. But above all was his gentle, unassuming kindness. A modesty so excessive as to amount almost to a vice, and a supersensitiveness to adverse criticism made him appear at first reticent, reserved and unapproachable ; but at heart he was to all as gentle as a woman and as kind as a father. In a close business intimacy of nearly fifteen years, I never heard William Baker say a harsh or unkind word to any one, or of any one. Of all, he spoke either good or not at all. The city of his adoption never had a firmer or more useful friend. It is no exaggeration to say that for more than forty years no important business enterprise was started in Toledo without his personal or pecuniary assistance. His life was active. happy, prosperous and useful. His declining years were brightened by duties . well done, and by the hope of a glorious awakening to immortal life beyond the grave."
Push sloane.
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RUSH R. SLOANE, Sandusky. Rush R. Sloane, twice elected Probate Judge, was born September 18, 1828, at Sandusky, Ohio. His father, John N. Sloane, was a native of New York State and settled in Erie county at San- dusky in 1815. He was a good lawyer and attained success in the profession. His grandfather, William Sloane, was an officer in the American Revolution and died for his country with English bullets in his body. The grandfather, with his brother, John Sloane, first settled and named the town of Lyme, New Hampshire, in 1764. The Sloanes were among the earlier English settlers of New England. His mother, Cynthia Strong, was a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of John Strong, of North Hampton, and her ancestor Caleb Strong was eighteen times governor of Massachusetts, and United States Sen- ator. Mr. Sloane's earlier education was in private schools, and afterwards in the old Methodist Seminary at Norwalk. Leaving school at the age of six- teen, he entered the law office of Honorable F. D. Parish, who, with one exception, was the first and oldest lawyer who ever practiced at Sandusky and who succeeded Judge Sloane when he resigned the judgeship of the Probate Court. Young Sloane remained in Mr. Parish's office for five years, during which time he became well grounded in the principles of the law ; so when he arrived at the age of twenty-one, in September, 1849, he was admitted to prac- tice. In 1852 he was admitted to the State Supreme Court and the United States District, Circuit and Supreme Courts. Upon his admission to the Bar he entered at once upon an active general practice, at first alone ; but later he formed a co-partnership with W. F. Converse, which continued for five years. After the dissolution of this partnership he continued alone until 1857, when he was elected judge of the Probate Court for Erie county. Upon the expi- ration of his first term he was re-elected in 1860, but resigned in 1861. He accepted a position tendered him by President Lincoln, as general agent at large of the Post Office Department, with headquarters at Chicago. At this time Chicago had a population of about 50,000 people, and by purchase of property in the business section of the city Judge Sloane laid the foundation of his fortune. He was largely instrumental in securing the election of John Sherman to the United States Senate the first time, in 1861, and again in 1866. In 1865 and 1866 he was chairman of the Republican State Central Com- mittee. In 1872 he left the Republican party, and became a candidate for Congress on the Greeley ticket, and since that time has been a Democrat. In 1879 he was elected mayor of Sandusky. Judge Sloane was a zealous oppo- nent of slavery, and he had the honor of preventing the kidnapping of six escaped slaves and was the only victim of the fugitive slave law of 1850. Judge Sloane has beeen most active in promoting the welfare of his native city, as well as the State's interests. He built the railroad between Columbus and Springfield, and was a director and one of the organizers of the railroad between Dayton and Cincinnati. The Mad River railroad, lying between San- dusky and Dayton, was built by him, and at different times he has been presi- dent and director in five railroad corporations. In recognition of his meritori- ous writings and donations, historical societies in several States have elected
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him to honorary membership. He is now the vice-president of the Firelands Hostorical Society of Ohio. Judge Sloane is a lawyer of much force and ability, always displaying marked energy and determination in his undertak- ings. He has amassed a liberal fortune. He takes great pride in and has spent inuch money to beautify Sandusky. As a man he is gentle and charm- ing in manner, always kind, considerate and congenial toward all with whom he is brought into contact. In 1854 Judge Sloane married Sarah E. Morrison, of Rochester, New York, and by this union there were two sons, Thomas M. Sloane. a lawyer at Sandusky, and Frank G. Sloane, late of the firm of Schoepfle & Sloane. In 1870 his wife died, and in 1874 he was again married to Helen F. Hall, of Elyria, Ohio. By this marriage there are two daughters, Helen S., now Mrs. John B. Ford, Jr., and Mary B., now in school.
EMERY DAVIS POTTER, late of Toledo. Honorable Emery Davis Potter died February 12, 1896, in the ninety-second year of his age. He came of Puritan and Quaker stock, being the son of Abram Potter and Johanna Davis Potter, born in Providence, Rhode Island, October 7, 1804. His family removed from the Providence plantation to Otsego, New York, in 1806. The father's circumstances were not such as to provide the son with more than very limited educational advantages in childhood. As the result of persistent effort, however, the latter ere long was encouraged to expect a collegiate course, in which he was disappointed, and was compelled without such advantage to enter upon the chosen profession of the law. This he did in the office of John A. Dix and Abner Cook, Jr., two able lawyers of Cooperstown, New York, the former having subsequently been governor of New York, United States senator from that State, and secretary of the treasury. Completing his studies, Mr. Potter was admitted to practice in New York, but soon deciding to make his home in the West, left for Toledo, where he arrived in the winter of 1834-5. Here he found a field not the most inviting in some respects for an ambitious young man, but one which he was not long in turning to the best account. His abilities as a lawyer soon attracted attention, while his active interest in public enterprises and political affairs gave him early prominence. In 1838 he was postmaster, and in 1839 was elected by the legislature as president judge of the Common Pleas Court for the Thirteenth Judicial District of Ohio, embracing ten counties and covering northwestern Ohio. In those days there were no public means of conveyance, and he was compelled to travel from county to county on horseback, largely through a dense wilderness where fre- quently in the absence of bridges he was obliged to swim streams and to resort to methods of travel of which the present generation in that section have no remembrance. In 1843 he was nominated by the Democrats and elected to Congress from the district made up largely of the territory embraced within the judicial district. He at once took a prominent position in Congress, serv- ing with John Quincy Adams upon the select committee on the Smithson will,
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whose action led to the founding of the Smithsonian Institute. In 1847 hc was elected representative in the Ohio legislature, where he acted largely as a leader of the Democratic side of the House. In October, 1848, he was elected to the Thirty-first Congress, where he took a specially prominent part in the long struggle for the speakership, receiving at different times seventy-eight votes for that high office, and coming within three votes of being elected. He was made chairman of the committee on post offices and post roads, and as such was the author of the bill of 1851, providing for cheap postage and the coinage of the three-cent coin. At the close of his term in Congress he resumed the practice of law, and in 1857 was appointed judge of the Federal Court of Utah, but declined the honor. In 1859 he was appointed collector of customs for the Toledo district, serving until 1861. He was elected senator in the Ohio legislature in 1873, serving until 1875, where he was influential in securing the enactment of the law providing, at the expense of the State, for the propaga- tion of fishes in Ohio. To his personal attention and good management the successful introduction and establishment of that policy of the State was largely due. He was mayor of the city of Toledo for the years 1847-8, at times a member of the common council of the city, and its city solicitor, as also a member of the board of education. In stature he was six feet two inches and was of a large and powerful framc. He was of a genial and happy dispo- sition, easy of approach, and with " malice toward none and charity for all." His kuowledge of affairs and men was most entensive. A companion of John Quincy Adams, he also enjoyed the acquaintance and friendship of Calhoun, Webster and Henry Clay. He was by the bedside and held the hand of the great Kentuckian when his spirit took its flight. He sat in judgment on the first case his fellow citizen, the late Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, tried and argued in court. He was a friend and companion of Rufus P. Ranney and Allen G. Thurman. During the Rebellion he was a War Democrat, unflinch- ing in his patriotism and devotion to the Union cause. Ilis mental faculties remained vigorous and unimpaired to the last hour of his life. His last public appearance was the delivery of an address at the laying of the corner stone of the new court house in Toledo. Judge Potter was married in 1843, to Miss Mary A. Card, of Willoughby, Ohio, who died in 1847, leaving one son, Emery D. Potter, Jr., now a prominent member of the Lucas county Bar. He was subsequently married to Miss Anna B. Milliken, of Pennsylvania, who, with one daughter, Miss Anna Claire Potter, is now living. Upon the death of Judge Potter there was called a largely attended meeting of the Toledo Bar Association, and after many tributes had been paid by old friends and acquaint- ances to his distinguished life and character, it was resolved, " that a memorial be presented to the several courts of Lucas county, and that they be requested to have the same entered upon their records, as a just tribute to the life and character of the deceased, and as enduring evidence of what may be accom- plished by the young men of this favored land without the aid of help or prominent family influences, and as incentive to worthy effort, high aim and honorable living." The memorial concludes thus : " He departed fall of years and with many honors. Still to add greater honor to his age than man could give him, he died fearing God."
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IRWIN I. MILLARD, Toledo. Judge Millard was born near Tyro, Rich- land county, Ohio, December 9, 1838. His ancestors on his father's side, originally English and Welsh, lived in Pennsylvania for several generations. The first member of the family that emigrated to America was Thomas Mil- lard, who came as the private secretary of William Penn, as shown by the family records. Rev. Thomas Millard, grandfather of the judge, was a Methodist preacher, who came to Ohio from Pennsylvania with his family, by the wagon route, in 1831, and settled on land which was then in Richland but subsequently became a part of Crawford county. He founded a Metho- dist church in the neighborhood and proclaimed the gospel there. When liv- ing in Chester county, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, he travelled over a large circuit and preached for many years. In his itinerary he became the friend and associate of the venerated Peter Cartwright, whom he frequently entertained at his home and with whom he travelled the circuit. This ances- tor copied from the old family Bible, handed down from generation to gener- ation, the data relating to genealogy and the connection between the first Millard emigrant to America and the founder of the Quaker colony at Phila- delphia. Judge Millard's parents, Joseph Millard and Mollie Immel, were natives of Pennsylvania, the former of Chester county and the latter of Potts- ville. His father was a mill owner and engaged in the milling business throughout his adult life, having located the site and built the first flour mill in that section of Ohio in which the family settled. It was run by water power, and many of the judge's tender recollections bind him to the locality and the old mill. Not long ago he found recreation in visiting the place, tracing the dimly outlined banks of the tail-race and other remains of a praiseworthy enterprise of the long ago, accredited to his father. His early education was received in the public schools of Greenfield, to which the family removed in his youth. When seventeen years of age he entered Fredericksburg Academy, attending a portion of each year and teaching school in winter, for a period of three years. The war to preserve the Union appealed successfully to his patri- otism. August 11, 1861, he enlisted in company I, Fifteenth Ohio Infantry, and proceeded to the front directly with his command. For a short time the regiment was on duty near Bowling Green, Kentucky. In November, only three months after his enlistment, he became seriously ill from exposure and was sent to the general hospital at Louisville, where he remained until the fol- lowing spring. His recovery was despaired of by the surgeons, and upon a certificate of disability he was discharged from the service and sent home from the hospital. Contrary to expectation, he did recover from that attack, after a confinement at home for more than a year; but as a result of the exposure in camp and field he has been subject to similar attacks at intervals during the last thirty-five years. Upon his first recovery he located in Toledo and served as deputy recorder of Lucas county one year. He was then employed for a year in the office of the Erie Railroad, and in the spring of 1865 he took up the study of law in the office of Bissell & Gorrill, where he spent two years in preparation for admission to the Bar. He was admitted
Millan
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in the spring of 1867 and immediately became a member of the firm with which he had studied. This connection was maintained for twenty-three years, until the fall of 1890. The firm name Bissell & Gorrill was preserved throughout that long period, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Gorrill died in California more than twenty years ago. It was dissolved finally upon the death of Mr. Bissell, the senior member, in December, 1894. It was one of the strongest and most successful law firms in northwestern Ohio. All its mem bers were strong, capable men, well versed in the law and well known in the courts. They had their full proportion of the important litigation in all that section of the State for a quarter of a century. They also had charge of the legal business of the United States Rolling Stock Company for many years. In the fall of 1890 Mr. Millard was elected Probate Judge. He retired from the firm upon his assuming his judicial duties in the spring of 1891. Before the expiration of his first term of three years he was re-elected for a second, and in the fall of 1896 was again elected for a third term by a large majority and in the face of the fact that his party had always theretofore refused to nominate any man for a third term. He is peculiarly adapted to the business and responsibilities imposed upon a probate judge by his official oath. Learned in the law, courteous and urbane in his business intercourse, observant always of secrecy in the delicate and confidential relations incident to the settlement of estates, entirely trustworthy in the management of large financial interests- he is a model judge. His judicial record is his best eulogy. Judge Millard became a member of Forsyth Post, the first organization in his section of the State, very soon after the society of the Grand Army of the Republic was instituted. Afterwards his membership was transferred to Toledo Post, but his connection with the society has been continuous. He is an Episcopalian and a Republican. His first vote was cast for Lincoln in 1860 and he has fol- lowed it up by voting a Republican ticket at every election since that time. He was a member of the party councils and of the managing committee for many years, and chairman of the executive committee a part of the time. He has prudently refrained from partisan activity while on the Bench. He was mar- ried in 1863 to Miss Mary C. Keller, a native of Crawford county, a daughter of George and Susan Myers Keller, and a descendant of old families of Mary- land and Pennsylvania, who became pioneer settlers in Ohio. Their family comprises four sons and three daughters. One of the eminent judges of Ohio contributes the following. "Judge Millard had many years of law office work and is a careful student of the law and an exceedingly competent law- yer. He is a diffident man of most kindly nature, and it would be difficult to find any one more fully and completely possessed of the qualifications that are called into action in the particular office that he holds. He is perfectly adjusted for it, has a kindly, sympathetic nature, so peculiarly adapted to meeting the emergencies of all occasions, which particularly fits him for the confidential and sympathetic relations that necessarily exist in connection with the Probate Court business."
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HENRY DE H. WAITE, Toledo. The subject of this biography is descended from the families of Waite which for several generations have been honored in New England. His father was a native of Old Lyme, Connecticut, which was also the birthplace of his cousin, late Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite. He was born on Staten Island, New York, November 21, 1855. His parents were Theodore Waite and Sarah Wandell. His father was a merchant and broker of New York City prior to the war, and during that period, attending to business in the city while retaining his residence on the Island. Henry attended school in early boyhood on Staten Island, and later in the public schools of Toledo, where the family settled soon after the war. In 1875 he received an appointment to the National Military Academy at West Point and completed the prescribed course therein. He was graduated with the class of 1879 and the rank of second lieutenant, and was assigned to the Fifth United States Cavalry. Joining his regiment in the West, he served with it on the plains, wherever threatened Indian outbreaks rendered its presence necessary, and in the State of Texas. In 1885 he entered the artillery school at Fort Monroe, Virginia, from which he was graduated two years later. In 1888 he received promotion and remained with the Fifth Cavalry for a year or more as first lieutenant. While in the field with his regiment in the Indian Territory in 1889 he received injuries which necessitated his retirement from the military service, and he was retired with the rank of first lieutenant. As a boy he had entered upon the study of law before his appointment to the Military Academy, and having left the army with an honorable record he resumed his long neglected studies and soon qualified himself for the legal profession. By heredity and inclination he was so nearly a lawyer that little time was required to gain a sufficient knowledge of the books to enable him to pass an examination. He entered the law school of W. C. Sprague while still suffering from injuries and at the same time was prosecuting his studies in the office of Harvey Scribner, Toledo. Thoroughly qualified by knowledge of the principles and familiarity with the standard text-books of the law, and still further equipped by the insight gained through observation and experience by employment in the office of a successful lawyer, he passed the examination before the Supreme Court Committee and was admitted to the Bar in October, 1893. Without any delay he entered into practice as a member of the firm of Scribner, Waite & Wackenheimer. Although he has not been engaged so long in the active practice of the law as many who are younger, yet he enjoys the equivalent of ten years of successful practice in the discipline incident to study in the Military Academy and service in the army ; the knowledge that comes of observation and travel ; the advantages that spring from high social intercourse, and the maturity of intellect and judgment as a foundation for technical and professional reading. He is, therefore, already a good lawyer. He is fortunate in the possession of broad scholarship and comparative freedom from prejudice. A student of the law alone may acquire that technical knowledge which makes the narrow case lawyer and insures to him a con- siderable measure of success, but he never attains the breadth of view which
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takes in the philosophy of the law and the underlying principles of jurispru- dence. These are reserved for the lawyer whose studies have taken a wider range and who has added to the learning of the schools the knowledge of men and affairs ; the culture acquired by travel and observation. Mr. Waite has improved by these advantages. He has visited every section of the United States and almost every State. He has come in contact with a cosmopolitan population. The West with its broad expanse of prairies, its lofty mountains and splendid rivers, is as familiar to him as the alphabet. He has studied human nature in its busy marts and meditated in its solitudes. It has con- tributed to the breadth of his vision, the depth of his thought and the liberality of his religion. He has the acuteness and the self-poise essential to success in the contentions of the forum ; the discernment, discrimination and industry required for the more intricate work of the office.
JAMES KENT HAMILTON, Toledo. Mr. Hamilton was born at Milan, Erie county, Ohio, on May 17, 1839. He is the son of Thomas and Sarah O. Hamilton. His father was an influential and prominent merchant of Ohio, for many years being largely interested in the mercantile and shipping interests of Milan and Toledo. He was an active and prominent Whig, and for some time represented the Erie and Huron county district in the State Senate. James Kent Hamilton, the subject of this sketch, received his early education at Kenyon College, in this State, whence he graduated in 1859. He then taught school for some time, in the meantime studying law, beginning his studies in the office of the Honorable R. C. Hurd at Mount Vernon, and subse- quently with the Honorable S. F. Taylor at Milan, and Mr. William Baker in Toledo. He was admitted to the practice of the law in 1862. During the period of his studies he had the common experiences of young men at that time, for he had to support himself by newspaper work, teaching school and other labors. All his feelings were in the Union cause. He was an ardent supporter of President Lincoln, and as the war at this time had assumed such an ominous character as to make very apparent the demand for resolute and vigorous men, he abandoned the Bar, to which he had been so recently admitted, for the wider field of patriotism and duty. He enlisted in the 113th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served with this regiment until the close of the war, being pro- moted to regimental adjutant, and afterward to captain of Company D. With his regiment he participated in all the campaigns of the Army of the Cumber- land, and at Chickamauga he served as adjutant general and chief of staff of the brigade commanded by General John G. Mitchell. This brigade was one of the two which, under the immediate command of General Stedman, saved the Army of the Cumberland under General Thomas from annihilation upon the afternoon of September 20, 1863. Captain Hamilton was also in the battles of Missionary Ridge, in the Knoxville Campaign; in the battles of Resaca, Romc, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, and in the
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engagements in the vicinity of, and at, Atlanta. He marched to the sea with General W. T. Sherman, and afterwards served with his command in the cam- paigns through the Carolinas to Goldsborough and Richmond. He was in the last battles of the Army of the Cumberland at Averysborough and Benton- ville, and participated in the grand review at Washington at the close of the war. Upon his return to Toledo he entered upon the practice of his profes- sion. His qualities as a lawyer soon became known, while his active partici- pation in public and political affairs gave him special prominence and influence. At an early day he was elected prosecuting attorney of the police court, after which he served four years as prosecuting attorney of the county, and sub- sequently four years more as solicitor for the city of Toledo. In 1887 he was elected mayor of Toledo, and was re-elected by a large majority in 1889 to the same important office. During his first term the agitation and discussion concerning the advisability of the city undertaking the construction of a line to the gas field, to supply the city with gas, became prominent. Mayor Ham- ilton opposed the adoption of the measure by voice and pen, but it received the approval of over sixty per cent of the vote of the people, and there- upon he entered actively and heartily into the work of carrying ont the expressed desire of the citizens, and during his last term led the contest waged with the Standard Oil Company to assure its completion and success, and carry out the wishes and vote of the people. He is a firm believer in the principles of a republican form of government. He filled the execu- tive chair of the city in a very able manner and greatly to the satisfaction of the entire people, each term of his administration being harmonious and popular. Mr. Hamilton is a man of keen foresight, cool, calm and deliberate in his judgment and in his actions. He is never demonstrative, and does not impress one as being what is usually termed enthusiastic. Yet there is about him an earnestness of purpose, a charm of manner and a cordiality of expres- sion that makes him universally popular. As a lawyer he is well read. a judicious counsellor, capable jurist and an effective and eloquent speaker. He is very impressive with a jury and possesses in a remarkable degree the happy faculty of winning the confidence as well as securing the earnest attention of the occupants of the jury box. In politics he is a staunch Republican, and gives his aid in every possible way that he considers conducive to the best interests of that party. Many prominent State and local officials owe much of their success to the assistance they have received from him and particularly to the able and eloquent manner in which he has presented the name of a candi- date to a nominating convention. In 1876 he formed a law partnership under the firm name of Hamilton & Ford, which continued until June 1, 1894, when it was terminated by the sudden death of Mr. Ford in Cincinnati. In Novem- ber, 1895, he entered into the present existing partnership with George P. Kirby, under the style of Hamilton & Kirby, which firm occupies a high and honora- ble position at the Bar of the State and county. Mr. Hamilton has spent his life in public and in prominence, nearly all of it in Toledo, among old-time neighbors and friends as well as amongst the ever increasing numbers of new
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