USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 28
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stepping stone. A prominent judge says : " Mr. McClintick is well versed in the law ; his greatest force is before the court ; is a fine trial lawyer, and brings. out all the facts in his case. He is skillful in applying the law to the facts in the case. His specialties may be said to be commercial law, corporation law, and particularly railroad law. He is also strong as an office lawyer. He is familiar with all the details of railroad business, and stands high'as a railroad lawyer. He is a man of the strictest integrity, and has never been connected with a questionable transaction affecting his integrity." He was married at Howellsburg, Kentucky, October 11, 1845, to Miss Elizabeth Mary Atwood. Six children were born to them, only two of whom are living. The eldest daughter, Mary Petrea, is unmarried and lives at home. The youngest, Ann Porter, is the wife of Edward W. Strong, formerly of New Brunswick, New Jersey, now a resident of Cincinnati, and assistant general counsel of the B. and O. S. W. railway system. Mr. McClintick has since boyhood been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and by precept as well as a consistent example, has promoted the cause of Christianity.
AMOS SMITH, Chillicothe. Judge Amos Smith, late of Chillicothe, was one of the best known men in southern Ohio. He was born August 16, 1827, at Lancaster, the son of George Hunter Smith, a native of Virginia, and Amelia Matlock, a native of Maysville, Kentucky. He was educated in his native town and began the study of law at an early age in the office of his uncle, Hocking Hunter, one of the ablest of that great Bar of Fairfield county which contained many of the historic names in the legal annals of the State. Probably no county in the earlier stages of the history of Ohio contained so large a percentage of members of its Bar who achieved remarkable eminence and distinction. On arriving at the age of twenty-one young Smith was admit- ted to practice in the courts and soon afterwards located in Sandusky, where he became associated with Judge Reber. After remaining there about three years he removed to Chillicothe and engaged for one year as clerk in the Chil- licothe Valley Bank. In 1852 he resumed the practice of law, having become associated in partnership with William T. McClintick, who was already estab- lished in law, and for more than a third of a century the firm of McClintick & Smith was widely known for the ability of its members, the extent of its practice and the remarkable financial success achieved in the law and commer- cial pursuits. Mr. Smith was essentially a commercial lawyer. He could hardly have been related to Hocking Hunter without possessing natural apti- tude for the law'; and the financial instinct appears to have been exceedingly prominent among his natural gifts. The union of these two faculties in a strong and well balanced mind resulted, as may have been expected, in tri- umphs along the lines of real estate and corporation law; and in business quali- fied him for large success as a banker. He became associate council of the
amos Smith.
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Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad in 1860 and continued to serve in that capacity for the company and its successor until 1883. When the Baltimore and Ohio south western system was organized in 1890 he became a member of its board of directors, a position which he held until death. He was one of the incorpo- rators of the First National Bank of Chillicothe and sustained the relation of attorney to the bank from the time of its organization until 1884, when he became president. As president and financial manager of this strong fiscal institution he added to its business and profits. He was not only safe and conservative, but also broad-minded and enterprising as an executive manager. His entire talent was not expended in one line of work, nor was he content to invest his surplus earnings in one class of securities. Foreseeing the great wealth buried in the valleys and hills of the State, he became interested very largely in coal lands, which he proceeded to develop, organizing first the Car- bondale Coal Company of Athens county, and afterwards becoming the pro- moter and one of the incorporators of the Wellston Coal Company of Jackson . county, through which firm he was a great factor in the development of that rich and now celebrated coal field of southern Ohio, and later he became extensively interested in coal properties in the Hocking Valley and elsewhere. These investments were all valuable and of a character to secure immediate profits on their improvement and leave a vast inheritance to his heirs. He became the owner of large landed estates in several different counties and also had numerous other financial interests which evidenced his sagacity as an investor, no less than his prudence as a manager. He died October 23, 1892, leaving his son, George Hunter Smith, as his successor in the management of varied and valuable financial interests. Mr. Smith was married December 12, 1857, to Henrietta Renick. Five children were born of this union : Elizabeth Renick, George Hunter, Anna, Ida Wyeth and Charles Francis. In social life Mr. Smith was always courteous and congenial, exhibiting more than ordinary fidelity in his friendships. He was honored by his family and neighbors, because of the possession of those traits of character which inspire confidence and respect. In business circles he was widely known and universally honored, because of the high standard of financial integrity which he maintained and the habit of promptness in meeting all engagements. He possessed the genius of labor, and could accomplish as much in a given time as any man in all that region, excelling as a financial lawyer rather than an advocate or a trial lawyer. His nervous force and energy were superior to his physical strength, but his will was imperious, and it is affirmed that his life was supported mainly for a year and a half by extraordinary will-power, as he refused to retire from business on the advice of his physician, when he was in no physical condition to continue in active pursuits. In view of his predilections and successes, it may be appropriate to place the financial instinct first and characterize him as the banker-lawyer. He was a fine looking gentleman, whose appearance and bearing could not fail to attract favorable notice. A prominent judge of Chil- licothe says : " Mr. Smith was not a good pleader ; he seldom appeared in court ; was an indefatigable worker ; had a great grasp of affairs, and man-
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aged successfully large estates. He was a very prominent man in this section of the state ; had a fine mind for details; was very positive and aggressive." Another well known judge says : "Mr. Smith was a commercial lawyer of the highest standing. In all business transactions on a large scale he seemed to grasp the points that belonged to his case ; was very methodical and dili- gent ; labored incessantly night and day when the pressure of a great many suits of a commercial character was upon him. His counsel was good and sought for by the business community. He was essentially a consulting lawyer; a man of the highest integrity of character, proficient in all the departments of commercial law, and, in fact, in all departments of the law, except criminal law. He was a man of very superior mind, of the largest capacity for commercial transactions; was a superior corporation lawyer. The firm of McClintick & Smith was the greatest in this whole section of the state in the management of corporation cases. He was an ideal business man, which is demonstrated by his remarkable success in life. I know of no man who was a safer counsellor. He was modest and unassuming, too much engrossed in business to be literary." Another prominent lawyer says : "Mr. Smith was a very able man in business affairs, careful, shrewd, attentive, and what might be termed a very successful man ; was a first-class office lawyer, especially in matters involving great financial interests ; was very capable in the preparation of legal papers." Another says: "He had no superior at this Bar as a commercial lawyer, and no superior in the community as a suc- cessful man. He managed a great many estates, and was implicitly trusted on account of the wisdom of his counsel and his carefulness to be right. He was consulted more than any other lawyer upon business complications in the town, in which he was especially competent. He was consulted on all impor- tant matters and was pre-eminent in matters pertaining to commercial law." Another lawyer of the Chillicothe Bar says: "In commercial law he has had no equal at this Bar. For a long time he was counsel for the merchants here, and was chiefly an office lawyer. He was keen, shrewd, sagacious and far- seeing ; a careful draftsman of contracts and wills, and in giving advice as to the management of large estates by trustees. He had the confidence of the business community on account of his great abilities and executive force. He was a man of wide knowledge, excellent judgment and superior capacity for banking and corporation law."
WILLIAM H. SAFFORD, Chillicothe. Honorable William H. Safford is one of the ablest jurists and advocates now living in southern Ohio. His ancestors were for a long time residents of New England, and his grandfather, Dr. Jonas Safford, and his father, Dr. Eliel Todd Safford, were both educated practicing physicians. His mother was Anna T. Harrison, of Louden county, Virginia. He was born February 19, 1821, in Parkersburg, Virginia.
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His early education was limited to the acquirements of the common schools of his day and he began teaching at the age of sixteen, afterwards filling the position of principal of an academy in which he had been a student. The teacher's profession, however, was not to his taste and he began the study of law in the office of William A. Harrison, of Clarksburg, Virginia. in 1840. He participated in the campaign of that year, making speeches in favor of General William H. Harrison. He was admitted to practice in the State of Virginia in April, 1841, two months after reaching his majority. For some time his practice was by no means lucrative and the circumstances surround ing him would have discouraged one whose temperament was less sanguine. During the period of his waiting for clients he was by no means idle, but improved the time in historical research and the study of literature in connec- tion with application to such law publications as were accessible. He was hopeful of the future and self-reliant in the present, having full confidence that he who sows wisely will reap abundantly later on. Before his business was sufficient to afford a livelihood with any of the luxuries he entered into mar- riage with a young woman of Virginia whose baptismal name, " Pocahontas." recalls a historic incident of the early settlement of that colony. She was the daughter of Dr. David Creel, and her full Christian name was Annie Maria Pocahontas. In 1848 Mr. Safford removed to Chillicothe, Ohio, where he soon established himself in his profession. He also in those early years devoted some time to literary pursuits, having in 1850 published a biography of Harman Blennerhassett. After further research this work was enlarged and published in 1861 under the title of The Blennerhassett Papers. Although Mr. Safford's early acquirements were very limited, he enlarged them by study and general reading until he has become one of the really learned men in the literature of the law and in general literature. In 1857 he was elected senator and served with ability in the legislature of the State. In 1859 he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor on the ticket with the late Judge Rufus P. Ranney, who was the candidate for governor. In 1868 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Fifth Judicial District, served one term and declined a renomination. At the close of his judicial service he resumed the practice of law, in which he has since been con- tinuously engaged. Judge Safford performed the duties appertaining to the judicial office with ability and conscientious fidelity to the obligations imposed. He could have remained on the Bench for an indefinite period if such had been his desire. Prior to his election as judge he had become eminent as an advocate and also as a trial lawyer. His successes on the forum doubtless influenced his determination to resume practice. Profoundly learned in the law, liberally informed in matters of history and science, cultivated by wide reading in literature, logical in the cast of his mind, he has for many years been one of the most formidable lawyers at the Bar of southern Ohio. On the Bench he won the esteem of all who practiced in his courts by his perennial good temper, his kindness to young members of the Bar and his courtesy to all. He was, moreover, inflexibly honest in arriving at and expressing his
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judgments, and impartial as between litigants and their counsel. He is a man of stainless reputation in all the relations of life. For many years he served as member of the board of education of Chillicothe and he has long been a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
CHARLES H. GROSVENOR, Athens. General Charles H .. the son of Peter Grosvenor and Ann Chase, was born at Pomfret, Wyndham county, Connecti- cut, September 20, 1833. He is a descendant of John Grosvenor, who emi- grated from England, settled at Roxbury, Massachusetts, and founded the family line in America, through his six sons. The tombstone of this ancestor at Roxbury, where he died in 1690, bears the crest 'and [coat of arms of the family in England. His grandfather, Thomas Grosvenor, was colonel of the Second Regiment Connecticut Volunteers during the Revolution and served on the staff of General Washington. His father served in the War of 1812 as major 'of the Tenth Connecticut regiment. His own bril- liant career as a volunteer soldier in suppressing the Rebellion is in evidence to prove that his inheritance of patriotism and chivalry was not dishonored. When only five years of age General Grosvenor was brought by his parents to Athens county, Ohio, which was then on the frontier. There was no school- house in the neighborhood of their clearing until he had reached the age of fourteen, when the primitive district log house was erected. In the meantime, however, the rudiments of his education had not been neglected. He received from his intelligent and refined mother, a woman of high character and unusual refinement, valuable lessons from text-books and lessons in duty. The train- ing which he received at home was more beneficial, because directed with broader intelligence, than any which the district schools of the times afforded. He was ambitious and persevering, with a will to conquer difficulties and energy commensurate with his purpose. It was not a misfortune that he was com- pelled early to rely upon his own resources and shape his own course in life. The condition of self-dependence cultivates the quality of self-reliance, which is a valuable factor in the equipment of a boy for any sphere of responsible action in manhood. He worked on the farm in season, taught district schools during the short winter terms for which the revenue supported them, and read the foundation books of law during the long evenings and leisure hours. He was directed in this course of primary reading by Honorable Lot L. Smith. The mental discipline incident to teaching others enabled him to acquire knowledge for himself with greater facility, and in 1857 he was admitted to the Bar of Athens, qualified to engage in the practice of law. The adult life of General Grosvenor presents three phases-the professional, the military, the political-all of which are interesting. (1) He formed a partnership with Honorable S. S. Knowles in 1858, which was terminated three years later by the opening of the Rebellion. After the war he became associated with J. M. Dana, in the firm of Grosvenor & Dana, which continued fourteen years. For
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several years, beginning in 1868, he was also associated with Austin W. Vorhis at Pomeroy as head of the firm of Grosvenor & Vorhis, which was discontin- ued on account of the pressing engagements of public life. His business associates in legal practice at Athens for some years past are E. J. Jones and L. G. Worstell, under the style of Grosvenor, Jones & Worstell. He is a law- yer of high reputation and large clientage. Trained in the old school, he has adhered to the custom of taking cases in all departments of practice. He has been equally successful in civil practice and the conduct of criminal cases. Quick in discernment, ready and logical in argument, careful in the preparation of a case, he is able to impress the court. Skillful in the use of words chosen from a large vocabulary at command, gifted in the art of oratory, controlled to a degree by sentiment and sympathy, his power over a jury is great. His practice has brought him into all the courts, from the Common Pleas of his county to the Supreme Court of the United States. He was chairman of the executive committee of the State Bar Association for several years after its organization. (2) At the opening of the Rebellion he enlisted as a private, but soon received a major's commission, and in 1863 was promoted to a lieutenant colonelcy. Before the close of the war he was a full colonel and a brigadier general by brevet. He was recommended for promo- tion by General Stedman for gallant service on the field in the battle of Nash- ville, and the recommendation was endorsed in most complimentary terms by General George H. Thomas. In every situation his courage and skill were equal to the demands and the emergency. (3) In 1873 and again in 1875 Gen- eral Grosvenor was elected to the general assembly of Ohio from Athens county. During the second term he served as speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives, with ability and general approbation. He became an acknowl- edged force in Ohio politics and a leader in the Republican party. IIe was trustee of the Soldiers' Orphans' Home from 1880 to 1888, and president of the board five years. He was a Presidential elector in 1872 for his district, and in 1880 for the State at large. He has been elected to the Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-first, Fifty-third, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth Congresses. His fame as an orator, familiarity with political questions and ability as a lawyer have given him high rank among the Nation's legislators. His personal popularity and power as a political debater create a demand for his services throughout the country during a campaign. Few men are more entertaining, instructive or influential on the stump. The intimate personal friend of Major Mckinley, he was the staunch supporter of the major's candidacy for President in its very incipiency. He was indeed the redoubtable leader in the organization of forces and the combination of influences which resulted in McKinley's nomi- nation at St. Louis in July, 1896. During the canvass which followed he appeared on the hustings in many States. No voice was more eloquent, no argument more effective than General Grosvenor's-from the Atlantic seaboard to the plains of Kansas. Never for a moment did his confidence in the final issue waver. His faith, transmitted as a magnetic current to the people who were fortunate enough to hear him speak, inspired in them the firm belief
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in Mckinley's election. He was always ready with figures to demonstrate the basis of his faith, and so earned the sobriquet of the "Statistician of the Campaign." The November returns justified his claims and established his reputation as a political prophet. Had he consented to the use of his name as a contestant he would certainly have been a formidable competitor of Thomas B. Reed for the speakership of the Fifty-fifth Congress. He is the recognized leader of his party on the floor. General Grosvenor is one of the brilliant debaters of the House. His long service and close observation have made him perfectly familiar with parliamentary procedure, and the complicated rules governing the House of Representatives in particular. Thoroughly informed in matters of legislation, logical in his method of presenting an argument, keen at repartee, equable in temper, earnest and even ardent in manner, he is powerful both in defense and assault. Free to pursue and conclude an argu- ment in his own way, he advances his cause by the force of his reasoning and the eloquence of his appeal. Captiously interrupted, he brings to his adver- sary confusion and discomfiture, by a philippic more scathing and sententious than those which immortalized Demosthenes. He is endowed with a bright imagination, ready wit, genuine humor, a resonant voice, lively sympathy and good action-faculties and attributes essential to the orator. General Gros- venor was married December 1, 1858, to Samantha Stewart, of Athens county, who died in April, 1866, leaving a daughter. He was married to Miss Louise H. Currier, a native of the same county, May 21, 1867. Two daughters are the fruit of this marriage.
SAMUEL CRAIGHEAD, deceased, was the first lawyer bearing his family name to become established in Dayton. He founded the firm now composed of William and Charles A. Craighead. As the name implies, the Craigheads are unmistakably Scotch in their origin, and they are indued with industry, firmness, self-reliance and other mental and moral characteristics of that vig- orous race. Following the stem of their genealogical tree back for two hundred years, we find the head of the American family of the name was a celebrated divine of the Presbyterian faith, and a native of Scotland. His name was Thomas Craighead. He came to the States in 1715 ; his ancestors reaching back in a long line to the feudal ages were cultivated people, many of them also clergymen. Being a minister, his home was wherever his duties called him. He died in 1739 at Newville, Pennsylvania, in the pulpit, after finishing one of his impressive sermons. His posterity settled in that State and became distinguished for their devotion to the cause of liberty. In the struggle for independence they were all patriots. John Craighead, from whom the subjects of this sketch are lineal descendants, settled at Carlisle, Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 1742, on a tract of land he purchased of William Penn's heirs, and it was there that Samuel Craighead was born, July 6, 1818. His father was a farmer, but died when Samuel was but three years of age, leaving a family of seven children, of which Samuel was the
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youngest but one. His early education was fragmentary, obtained partially in public schools of Carlisle and partly in the academy connected with the Dickinson College at that place. When seventeen years of age he went to New York and entered his brother's printing office, remaining there seven years, five of which were spent at the printer's trade and the last two in the study of law, the profession he had determined to enter. In 1842 he came to Ohio and continued his studies in the office of S. D. King, of Newark, and the next year was admitted to the Bar at Mansfield, Ohio. In the spring of 1844 he opened an office in Dayton for the practice of his profession, where by reason of his marked ability he soon attracted public attention. In 1848 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Montgomery county and in that position demonstrated and established his rank among lawyers. This term of public service fixed his status at the Dayton Bar. He stepped to his place in the front rank and maintained that position to his death. He loved his profession and refused to leave it for political honors, though often urged to do so. He was offered the nomination for Congress by his party in 1872, when it was equivalent to an election, but he declined to have his name go before the con- vention. In 1876 while absent from home he was made the Republican candi- date to represent his district in Congress, but peremptorily declined, and another convention was called to name a candidate, who was afterwards elected. Had he consented to accept the honors the people were ready to thrust upon him, there were none among his intimate acquaintances who had any doubt as to what his future would have been. Well informed, strong in his argument, gifted as an orator, and courteous in his bearing, he possessed the elements that would have swiftly carried him up to a plane with the ablest National law-makers, as they had established him in the front rank at the Bar of his adopted State. · He had a large general practice, but in criminal cases, especially homicide, he had a reputation as wide as the borders of the State. As a trial lawyer he was very effective; his cases were always thoroughly prepared. In wit and repartee he was a master, and in summing up a case before a jury he was often brilliant and at times sublime. Mr. Craighead had extensive domestic business relations. He was president of the Firemen's Insurance Company, of Dayton, from its organization in 1856 to the time of his death. He was for many years a member of the order of Odd Fellows and filled the highest offices and obtained the highest honors of the order. He was Grand Sire of the Grand Lodge of the United States from September, 1858, to Septem- ber, 1860. The firm of Craighead & Craighead was formed in 1877 by a partnership arrangement between Samuel and William Craighead. In 1881 Charles A. Craighead was admitted to the firm as junior partner, and the firm as thus constituted remained until the senior partner retired from active practice on account of his failing health. The remaining partners continued the busi- ness under the same firm name. In February, 1853, Mr. Samuel Craighead married Mrs. Jeanette A., daughter of Judge William Miller, deceased, of Cincinnati, and relict of Lieutenant Woodhull Schenck, of the United States Navy. By this union Mr. Craighead had three sons, Robert G., Emanuel J.
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