USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 32
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nati, until 1858, when he was again elected to Congress. President Fillmore had appointed him secretary of the treasury, however, at the close of his term as senator, and he served to the end of the administration, March 4, 1853. He supported Mr. Lincoln on the stump very effectively in 1860, and among the early appointments made by President Lincoln was that of Mr. Corwin as minister to Mexico. He remained in Mexico four years, and upon his return settled in Washington for the practice of law. He was stricken suddenly with fatal illness, while surrounded by a party of Ohio friends, and died in three days. Mr. Corwin was a good lawyer and a great advocate : but his mind was not eminently judicial, nor did he possess remarkable talent for the purely technical construction of the law. He was too broad, too generous, too noble to find pleasure in the nice legal distinctions which measure so much of the professional ability of many practitioners. His understanding of principles was profound ; his memory was accurate and retentive. He read much, nota- bly of history and biography. His knowledge of the sacred Scriptures was marvellous, and his reverence for piety, truth and goodness was sincere. He was a large man every way-in stature, breadth and depth of chest, a massive head set firmly on his powerful shoulders, with a short neck. His complexion was swarthy, his eyes brilliant, and his facial expression most wonderful. His power as an actor was superb in its naturalness, and in no other aspect was it so remarkable as in the capacity of the face to express all the emotions with which the human mind or heart is familiar. His humor followed his pathos so closely as to instantly change grief into mirth, and illume with a smile the countenance which he had clouded with sorrow by his last sentence. As Col- onel Parsons says :
" I have seen a vast multitude of men and women before him with faces actually bathed in tears, suddenly breaking into the most boisterous, convul- sive laughter, so that tears were actually arrested half-way down the cheeks, where they glistened like dew drops of the morning on the countenances of the ' weepers,' in doubt whether to dry up in the sunlight of comedy, or pro- ceed upon the sorrowing mission on which they were originally sent to travel. As a mere orator Mr. Corwin excelled any man it has been my fortune to hear. So full of wit, humor, pathos, learning, history, imagery ; a manner so charm- ing and magnetic as to be fascinating beyond description, and a face so vari- able and wonderful in its power of expressing emotions that no man could look upon it without yielding at once to its bewitching influence. In private life, at the social board, he was the center and idol of the circle, and when in Congress in the latter years of his life, he was always surrounded by members who loved and honored him, and were delighted to listen to his charming conversation."
HENRY C. NOBLE, Columbus. Henry C. Noble died at his home in Columbus, December 12, 1890. The Franklin County Bar Association held a meeting and adopted a memorial reported by a committee of leading members of the association. The memorial, which it is understood was prepared by Honorable Richard A. Harrison, is so complete and so admirably adapted as
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a biographical sketch for the "Bench and Bar of Ohio," that it is copied herein : " Mr. Noble was a native of the city of Lancaster, Fairfield county, Ohio. He was born February 28, 1826. His parents were Colonel John Noble and Catherine (McDill) Noble. His father and grandfather, originally of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, emigrated to Lancaster, Ohio, in 1811, from Hagerstown, Maryland, his father then being in the twenty-second year of his age. In March, 1832, his father and family removed to Columbus, where they resided until 1840, when they removed to Cincinnati. In 1845 they returned to Columbus, and again to Cincinnati in 1846. After residing there until 1850 they finally settled permanently in Columbus .- Colonel John Noble was one of the enterprising early settlers of Ohio; was a soldier of the War of 1812, and was, for many years, one of the best known and most useful citizens of the State. He was universally respected and esteemed for his high character, his public spirit, and his friendly, generous and charitable disposi- tion. He died in 1871. Under the operation of the powerful law of heredity these personal qualities and characteristics of the father were fully developed and strikingly exemplified in the life and character of the son. Henry attended private schools in Lancaster and Columbus. Upon the removal of the family to Cincinnati, in 1840, he attended 'The Cincinnati College,' and there had the benefit of more generous instruction than could be had in Lan- caster or Columbus. Professor O. M. Mitchell, the eminent astronomer, and afterwards a distinguished general in the war of the Rebellion, was his instructor in mathematics, for whom Henry formed a warm attachment, and to whom he attributed no little influence in the formation of his character. In 1841 Henry became a clerk in a dry goods store in Columbus, in order to acquire a knowledge of practical business methods. At the end of the year he returned to ' The Cincinnati College,' where he was a student until the spring of 1843. Upon leaving there he entered Miami University, and graduated in 1845. He shortly afterwards commenced the study of the law in the office of Edwards Pierrepont and Thomas Sparrow, in Columbus. After reading with them for a few months he entered the office of Henry Stanbery (who became shortly before the first attorney general of the State) and completed his law studies with him. Mr. Noble was called to the Bar on the 14th of December, 1848. and at once entered upon the practice of the law in the State courts, and also in the Circuit and District courts of the United States for the District of Ohio, which were then held at Columbus. He had his desk in the office of Mr. Stanbery until the latter removed from Columbus to Cincinnati in the year 1853. Mr. Noble's association with Mr. Stanbery during these eight years was of inestimable value to the former. In some respects Mr. Stanbery was the most accomplished lawyer at any Bar in any country, and no better fortune could have befallen Henry C. Noble than to have such a lawyer to direct and shape, during the formative period of his character, the course of his legal life. Mr. Noble commenced the practice of the law when the Bars of Columbus and Lancaster and other towns in the State were composed of law- yers who have never been surpassed and seldom equalled. There was then at
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this Bar not only Mr. Stanbery, but Joseph R. Swan, Noah II. Swayne, P. B. Wilcox. John W. Andrews, and others; at the Lancaster Bar, Thomas Ewing, Hocking H. Hunter, and John T. Brasee; at Chillicothe, Thurman, Leonard, Scott, and Creighton. The Bars throughout the State were animated by the loftiest conception of the position, duties and qualifications of the pro- fession. Mr. Noble's moral character, deportment and promise attracted the attention and regard of the leaders, and he formed ennobling intimacies with them. His career shows how powerful and ennobling was the influence which they exerted in the formation of his character as a man, as a citizen and as a lawyer. Shortly after Mr. Noble entered upon the practice Mr. Stanbery called him into a 'patent case.' Mr. Noble took hold of the case with zeal, and Mr. Stanbery put him forward in the management of it. In the hearing and argument of the case Mr. Noble displayed such marked aptitude and skill in mastering and handling the peculiar questions of fact and of law which this class of cases involves, that he was afterwards retained in many such cases while the Federal courts were held in Columbus. From the time Mr. Noble was called to the Bar until he retired from the general practice in the year 1876, he followed his profession with untiring zeal and perseverance, and with great success. His practice embraced cases in every department of the law, but his quickness and business-like capacity enabled him to carry on, success- fully and alone, a large and varied practice, and at the same time devote a good deal of his time and attention to reading and study outside of the law, and to matters of public concern. Mr. Noble was in every respect admirably adapted to the profession of his choice. He had a clear, active, vigorous, dis- criminating, well developed mind. He had a retentive memory. He was fond of investigating legal principles, and also of studying and unravelling a complicated state of facts, and he did not weary in mastering the details of transactions. He had the rare power of seeing things in a practical, common- sense, true light, and of presenting them clearly in the same light to others. He could state legal principles or facts, however complicated, distinctly and concisely. He was always candid in stating and dealing with either facts or principles. He never attempted to spin fine webs of sophistry at the expense of common sense. He was an ideal representative of the best type of lawyers. As a lawyer 'of all work'-of work in every and any branch and department of the law - he had no superior at this Bar. He was always fair, honest and straightforward. He did not depend for success in a cause upon adroitness in maneuvering, but relied upon the merits of his case. He did not regard a law- yer as a mere implement or tool of his client, to be used at the client's pleasure for good or evil. He had a suggestive mind ; its resources were varied ; all all his intellectual movements were rapid ; he had great elasticity of mind; many of his best thoughts came like flashes of lightning, hence he was very ready in the trial of a cause in meeting unexpected phases of it. As an advo- cate he threw not only his mind into a cause, but, when he felt sure his client's cause was just, his heart also. He was a persuasive, agreeable, fluent speaker. His vocabulary was rich. He was never at a loss for a word or an idea, and
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was felicitous in his diction. He was not simply tolerably honest and candid, but thoroughly so. He was fair to all concerned in a trial. His personal and professional character was beyond reproach. These characteristics always secured for him a patient, attentive hearing before courts and juries. His professional honor and gentlemanly accomplishments, his kindly manner and ready sympathy, especially toward the junior members of the Bar, endeared him to his professional brethren ; and his influence as a lawyer was as good as it was great. His professional conduct and life furnish a conclusive answer to the obloquy sometimes cast upon the whole profession of the bar by prejudiced or unthinking people. Mr. Noble set an example of undeviating integrity and fairness in all the relations of life. No pleasure could tempt him, no profit allure him, no ambition currupt him, no example sway him, no persuasion move him to do anything which he knew or surmised, or suspected to be evil. The universal and unbounded confidence of this community in the integrity, sound judgment, intelligence, and public spirit of Mr. Noble was conspicuously and conclusively shown a few years since, when Judges Bingham, Evans and Wylie appointed him to act with the county commissioners, probate judge, county clerk, and sheriff, in approving plans, drawings, representations, bills of material, specifications, work, and estimates of cost thereof, for the new court house for this county, in accordance with the statute in such case made. Mr. Noble was unanimously elected chairman of this commission and acted as
such. The sequel demonstrated the wisdom of his appointment.
There is no other instance, in Ohio at least, where the cost of a public building has been less than the appropriation. Every dollar expended on this court house was judiciously and honestly expended ; the tax-payers received the worth of their money, and they have, at a comparatively low cost, the best court house in Ohio. Mr. Noble always took an intelligent interest in what- ever projects were suggested or set on foot touching the growth, prosperity, development, improvement or honor of the city of Columbus. He was amongst the first to see and predict the rapid growth of the city which has since taken place. He was active and influential in promoting the develop- ment of the resources and trade of the Hocking Valley. He early perceived the expediency and wisdom of constructing a railroad from Columbus down that valley to Athens. Upon the construction of that road, he was elected a director of the company by which it was constructed, and acted many years as a member of the executive committee. He also favored the construction of a railway from Columbus to Toledo, to be operated in connection with the Hocking Valley road. Upon the organization of a company for that purpose he was elected one of its directors. In 1867 he was elected a director of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company, and was annually re-elected, and served continuously until his decease. In 1885 he was elected president of that company to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Swan ; and he has been re-elected annually since that time. In those positions he was not merely 'a figure-head,' but he took an active interest in the busi- ness which the law enjoins as a duty in such cases. On the 11th of March,
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1872, Mr. Noble was appointed trustee of the State Blind Asylum, and continued to act as such, under re-appointments, until March 19, 1878, when he resigned. That trust and the trust as commissioner of the court house appropriation are the only public offices or public trusts which Mr. Noble ever accepted. It is well known that he was, on many occasions, tendered public positions, but he declined them. In the State Journal of 1856 is a card signed by him, declining to be a candidate for State senator. While Mr. Noble had decided convictions upon political party questions, he was too independent and conscientious to wear a party collar or obey the edicts of a party caucus. This was one of the reasons why he declined political preferment. He also, doubtless, believed he could be more useful to the public out of office than in. And it is certain that he did render much valuable, gratuitous service to the public, and, by his independent posi- tion, accomplished more for the community at large in some directions than he could have done had he been hampered by accepting partisan positions. Mr. Noble was the first president of this association after its revival. He was a member of the Ohio State Bar Association from 1880 until his death; and was treasurer from July, 1881, until December, 1882. So long as Mr. Noble practiced law he had a large 'office business.' The business men of Colum- bus advised with him, and he drew many contracts, wills, and other instru- ments. He was universally regarded as a safe adviser. Knowing the evils of litigation, he composed many threatening legal controversies. Mr. Noble ad- ministered many important private trusts. Confidence in his business sagacity and his integrity would have placed many more such trusts in his hands had he not declined them. Every trust which he accepted was administered judi- ciously and with scrupulous fidelity. Upon the organization of the board of trade of Columbus in 1883, Mr. Noble became a member of it. He was one of the most active, intelligent, useful and influential members. His legal knowl- edge, as well as business sagacity, gave weight to his opinions. Among the subjects which he persistently argued upon the attention of the board were questions involved in the solution of the momentous and pressing problem of the government of American cities. His last real work was the preparation of a well studied, able paper, embodying what he re- garded as a practical solution, to a considerable extent at least, 'of that difficult problem, which he caused to be laid before the board for their consideration. This important paper has received favorable comment from gentlemen who have bestowed much reflection and research upon the work- ing of municipal government in the United States, and the measures which may cure, or at least, mitigate. Mr. Noble recently prepared and submitted to the judges of the Common Pleas Court rules for the government of the jail of this county. The judgment of no citizen of Columbus concern- ing any measure or project affecting her welfare was more sought for than Mr. Noble's ; and he was always ready to carefully examine every such project, and give his best judgment in regard to it. Under a joint resolution of the general assembly, adopted April 19, 1883, Mr. Noble was appointed by
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the governor a member of a commission to make a careful examination as to the kind, amount and effect upon prisoners of the work performed in the penal institutions of the State, and as to all the facts pertaining to such work ; and also to recommend such legislation as to the members should seem advisable to diminish or prevent evils or abuse, if any, arising from such work ; and like- wise to recommend the abolition of the convict contract system, if they thought necessary, and the substitution therefor of some other system of work, or such alterations in the contract system as such commission thought ought to be made therein. Mr. Noble devoted the greater part of a year to the investigation of the questions submitted to the commission, visiting other States to obtain knowledge upon the subject. The commission made an elab- orate report to the general assembly. The recommendations of the report were adopted and embodied in a legislative Act. This Act contained some provisions which were not recommended by the commission. These latter pro- visions did not work well, and were repealed; but the provisions which were recommended by the commission remained in force, experience having demon- strated their practical wisdom. Mr. Noble united with the Westminster (Pres- byterian) Church in the year 1863. At the time of his death, and for many years previously, he was a member of the First Church. His religious convic- tions were deep-rooted, but he was not socially austere. His religion was not a melancholy religion, but cheerful, inspiring, and practical, purifying the heart, governing daily conduct in all the relations of life, and affording true, substantial happiness. Like the greatest lawyer on the English Bench of his generation, Lord Cairns, Mr. Noble taught in the Sunday School. He did this, with the utmost punctuality and unfeigned pleasure, for thirty years. For many years Mr. Noble devoted one-tenth of his income to religious and chari- table objects. This statement is made on the authority of one who has per- sonal knowledge of its truth. In this, as in other matters, he hewed to the line of every admonition as well as every positive command of the sacred ' Word, which was a lantern unto his feet.' Although every one who knew Mr. Noble personally noticed the gentleness of his disposition, yet he was firm in the maintenance of whatever he believed to be right or expedient. But he did not possess the smallness of mind which makes some men ashamed to retract an opinion. The amiability of his appearance extended to his charac- ter, but his clear and keen sense of right developed strength of conviction and force of character. He had the courage to live manfully. He was free and genial in every company. He was fluent, entertaining and instructive in con- versation, and of great vivacity. He was free from affectation or assumption, and was accessible and kindly to all. Ile was warm-hearted. ITis friendships were firm and well chosen. He was devoid of even a tinge of envy or jeal- ousy. He had an open eye for the beautiful in nature and art. Mr. Noble filled so well the position in the social economy of this growing city to which the confidence of his fellow-citizens called him that it cannot easily be refilled. Although his position was not created by public law, he was, in the highest and best sense, a public man, and his death is justly regarded as a public loss.
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On the 28th of September, 1848, Mr. Noble was married to Elizabeth J. Edmiston, the daughter of Dr. John M. Edmiston and Matilda J. (Gwynn) Edmiston, who were among the first settlers of Columbus. No man ever filled more entirely the charmed circle of domestic life. His wife survives him, and also his sister, Mrs. Acton; and his brother, John W. Noble, secre- tary of the interior department of the National government, who attributes much of his success in life to the advice, encouragement and aid of his elder brother, Henry. Another brother and five sisters are dead."
GEORGE. K. NASH, Columbus. George K. Nash, like many of Ohio's dis- tinguished men, began life on a farm in the Western Reserve. His father, Asa Nash, a farmer, was a native of Massachusetts, and emigrated to the Buckeye State in 1840. The Nashes are of English extraction, and date the arrival of the family in America was in the year 1639. His mother, Electa Branch, was also a native of Massachusetts and a descendant of English stock. George K. Nash was born in Medina county, near the county seat, Medina, in 1842. His early education was that of the usual country boy in the com- mon schools of Medina. In 1863, at the age of twenty, he entered Oberlin College, then one of the leading educational institutions of the West. At the completion of his Freshman year, his loyalty and patriotism led him to leave the student's campus for the soldier's camp. He enlisted in 1864 as a private in the 150th Regiment, Ohio National Guards, and served for one hundred days. At the time he was mustered out of service he was in ill health and unable to continue in the army or resume his studies at college. His inclina- tion was strong toward the profession of the law, and he began at Columbus, 1865, his preparation for admission to the Bar by entering, as a student, the law office of Judge R. B. Warden, an eminent jurist who had been a member of the Supreme Bench of the State. In Columbus, in April, 1867, Mr. Nash was admitted to the Bar and at once began the practice of his profession, forming a partnership with Morton E. Brasee, under the firm name of Brasee & Nash. This partnership continued until the death of Mr. Brasee in 1869. Mr. Nash formed no other legal associations until 1890, when he received as partner Mr. John J. Lentz, who in 1896 was elected to Congress. The firm is known as Nash & Lentz. So extensive has been the business of Judge Nash, that during the past few years he has had many assistants in his office, some of whom, through the opportunities thus afforded, have become prominent in their profession, notably Tod B. Galloway, now Probate Judge of Franklin county, and Henry Williams, assistant prosecutor of Franklin county. The ability, integrity and industry that characterize Judge Nash have deservedly and frequently won for him high and honorable preferment in his profession. After practicing for three years, with a constantly increasing clientage, he was elected, in 1870, prosecuting attorney for Franklin county, overcoming the usual Democratic majority of about three thousand. In 1872 he was
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re-elected, and during his terms of service was a faithful, efficient and successful attorney for the people. A few months before the close of his second term he resigned to look after important business matters that had been placed in his hands. For several years thereafter private law practice occupied his time and attention, and his reputation as a skilled and able practitioner steadily increased. In 1876 he made a gallant but unsuccessful fight as a candidate for Congress against General Thomas Ewing. In 1877 he was the nominee of his party for attorney general, but the entire Republican ticket met defeat. In 1879, at the Republican State Convention, he was again nominated on the first ballot for the office of attorney general, and was elected in October of that year. So acceptably did he discharge the duties of his position, that at the close of his first term (1881) he was re-nominated and re-elected, receiving a large majority over his opponent, Frank C. Doherty, one of the strongest men on the Democratic ticket. During his second term in April, 1883, he resigned the office of attorney general to accept the position of judge on the Supreme Court Commission, the appointment coming unsought from Governor Charles Foster. This commission completed its labors in April, 1885, when Judge Nash returned to a large and lucrative practice. An ardent and steadfast Republican from youth, Judge Nash has always taken patriotic interest in public affairs and an active and influential part in both State and National politics. He has often been intrusted with the leadership and management of his party, and always with honor to himself and usually with success for his party. In 1880 he was chairman of the Republican State Committee, and under his brilliant direction a majority of over thirty-four thousand was polled in the State for the Presidential candidate, James A. Garfield. In 1881 and 1882 Judge Nash also served as chairman of the State Executive Committee, the former year being the one in which Governor Foster was elected. In the State Convention held at Zanesville, June, 1895, Judge Nash received two hundred and seventy-nine votes as the nominee for the office of governor, and the fact that those votes came from sixty of the eighty- eight counties in the State was evidence of the popular esteem in which he was held. In the State campaign of 1897 Judge Nash was again placed in charge of the interests of his party, as the chairman of the State Executive Committee. As a lawyer, Judge Nash ranks in the very forefront of his pro- fession. This was recognized by his being elected president of the Ohio State Bar Association, for the years 1896-7. Ile is a close, careful, indefatigable student ; a logical reasoner and an argumentative, persuasive speaker ; simple, clear, frank and straightforward in speech and manner, without the ornaments of oratory he carries conviction equally to the jury or to the political audience. Among the most important suits in which he has been retained as counsel, was that which arose between Mr. Vanderbilt of the New York Central, and Mr. Jewett of the Erie Railway. The issue was concerning the consolidation, by Vanderbilt, of the Bee Line with the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railway. Judge Nash represented the opposition to the consolidation, and was eminently successful in the contest. Among the other many notable suits in which he
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