USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 36
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ert, a prominent lawyer of Reading, Pennsylvania, and granddaughter of Judge Robert Porter of that city. Her mother, Mary Porter, was descended from Robert Porter, a native of Ireland, who landed at Londonderry, New Hamp- shire, and afterwards purchased a farm in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where he took up his permanent residence. His most successful and promi- nent son (Mrs. Dechert's grandfather) was General Andrew Porter, who was born September 24, 1743, and served with distinction as an officer during the Revolutionary War. After its close he was commissioned major general of militia of Pennsylvania, and was tendered the position of secretary of war by Madison, but declined. His son, Judge Robert Porter of Reading, Pennsylva- nia, was born January 10, 1768, and served during the latter part of the War of the Revolution as a lieutenant of artillery. Having entered the army with his father when but eleven years of age, he was perhaps the youngest soldier and officer of that war. In 1789 he was admitted to the Bar at Philadelphia, and was afterwards appointed president judge of the Third Judicial District of Pennsylvania, a position which he filled for over twenty-five years, and then resigning, retired to private life. Mr. Young was a strong Union man, and an earnest supporter of President Lincoln's administration. He was appointed by Governor Brough, commissioner of the draft for Montgomery county, and made the largest draft of any in the State. He also served as a member of the military committee, and was identified with the organization of all the local companies raised in Dayton and its vicinity. He devoted much time and labor to the cause, and through his outspoken and uncompromising efforts, was often exposed to much personal danger. Mr. Young was a member of the first non-partisan police board of Dayton, appointed in 1873, by which the present metropolitan police system of that city was inaugurated. He was also one of the founders of the Dayton Bar Association, now known as the Dayton Law Library Association. During the course of his practice he was frequently urged to accept a judicial position, but declined. Upon the death of Judge W. W. Johnson in 1886, he was asked to become a candidate for his unexpired term upon the Supreme Bench ; and, without his knowledge, a peti- tion for his appointment, signed by the entire Dayton Bar, was presented to Governor Foraker. Learning of the movement, however, Mr. Young, for per- sonal reasons, declined to permit the use of his name. He was a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, and also of the American Bar Association, and from a biographical sketch of him, which appears in the published proceed- ings of the latter organization, for the year 1888, we select the follow- ing extract, which is truthfully descriptive of him, both as a lawyer and a citizen:
" Mr. Young was a man of striking physical appearance, and of marked mental characteristics. He was born to be a lawyer. His breadth of intellect, his strong, determined will, his sound, impartial judgment, his remarkable reas- oning powers, his gift of nice and correct discrimination, made up a mental organization distinctively legal. While at. the same time his large and well proportioned head, with its high, expansive forehead, set firmly on his broad, square shoulders, gave him a personal appearance in keeping with his mental
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characteristics. * * He was a strong and pure type of that class of American lawyers, who, eschewing outside schemes for the promotion of wealth or personal aggrandizement, devote to their profession the full measure of their powers, and seek happiness in the conscientious discharge of their professional, domestic, and civic duties."
In referring to his characteristics and to his standing in the profession, Honorable Richard A. Harrison, himself one of the most eminent lawyers in Ohio, in conversation with the writer, remarked :
"Edmond S. Young, in his day, stood in the front rank of the practitioners at the Ohio Bar. He was a pure and able lawyer, who honored his profession and who deserves to be classed among the eminent jurists of the State. Had he chosen to enter the political arena, or to accept a position on the Bench, he would have undoubtedly attained great distinction. He was, however, too honest for a politician and too active for a judge, and he valued independence and self-respect far above political preferment. His honors came to him mostly in the line of his practice, and none of them came cheaply. He won his reputation as a lawyer in combat with some of the best legal talent in the country. He had a powerful mind, well trained in the intricacies of the law. He was the soul of honor, and would not stoop to trickery of any kind, or take an unfair advantage of an opponent. He was one of the best types of the ideal lawyer it has been my fortune to meet. He was fond of saying of a prominent judge of his acquaintance (the late Judge Daniel A. Haynes), 'God made him a judge,' and so I can truthfully say of him, God made Edmond S. Young a lawyer."
He died suddenly on the evening of February 14, 1888, while still in the active practice of his profession, leaving his widow, two sons and one daughter, Mary (since deceased), surviving.
GEORGE R. YOUNG, Dayton. George R., senior member of the legal firm of Young & Young, and one of the most prominent members of the Dayton Bar, was born in that city on October 2, 1857, and is the son of the late Edmond Stafford Young, and Sarah (Dechert) Young. Mr. Young was edu- cated in the Dayton public schools, graduating with honors from the Central High School in 1875. He was valedictorian of his class, and also received the gold medal for best scholarship. After taking an additional course from pri- vate tutors, he read law in the office of his father, until his admission to the Bar in 1878. He was admitted by the court - after passing on the question of his eligibility - some months before he reached his majority, and he was probably at the time the youngest attorney in the State. Immediately after his admission to the Bar, he was taken in as a member of his father's firm, which thereupon became Young, Gottschall & Young, and subsequently Young & Young, as stated in the preceding sketch of E. S. Young. While absent in the East in 1881, Mr. Young was without his solicitation or knowledge nominated by the Republican party for prosecuting attorney of Montgomery county. He made the race against a strong and popular candidate and an adverse majority of over a thousand, but was defeated by only a few hundred votes. In 1885 he received the Republican nomination for city solicitor, but the city being then
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largely Democratic, he was again defeated by a small majority. Since this time he has never been a candidate for political office - attending strictly to the practice of his profession, and giving it all his time and attention, and he has met with marked, and well merited success. He has taken a leading part in the trial of many important cases, and is recognized by the profession, both as a sound and able lawyer, and as an advocate of superior ability. In the fall of 1894, Mr. Young's name was suggested to Governor Mckinley as a suc- cessor to Judge John A. Shauck, about to leave the Circuit for the Supreme Bench ; and a petition for his appointment was circulated. This petition was signed by every member of the Dayton Bar, save one, who having already rec- ommended another aspirant, wrote a personal letter withdrawing his support and endorsing Mr. Young. Owing to want of time in case of appointment to close up his private practice. Mr. Young subsequently withdrew from the con- test. In speaking of this incident, in the writer's hearing, a prominent mem- ber of the Dayton Bar remarked :
"There is not another man, I believe, at this Bar, whose fitness for the position would receive so general recognition." And continuing, he said : " The Young brothers stand very high here, both as lawyers and as citizens, and have a large practice. George R. Young, the senior member of the firm, pos- sesses many of his father's characteristics. Like him, he is purely a lawyer, and is one of the hardest working attorneys at this Bar. There is no man at the Montgomery county Bar more universally respected by the profession than George R. Young. He has ability, an accurate knowledge of the law, and is thoroughly honorable in the conduct of his practice. Like his father, he will not resort to tricks to secure an advantage, and he tries his cases on their merits. He is strongest, perhaps, before a court where legal knowledge counts for more than figures of speech. But he is a good all around lawyer, strong either before a court or jury, and in the routine of office work."
Mr. Young is a charter member of the Dayton Club. He was one of the founders of the Dayton Literary Union, which flourished for many years, and was the first president of the present High School Alumni Association. He has been for years a trustee, and is now vice-president of the Dayton Law Library Association, and is a member of the Ohio State and American Bar Associations.
WILLIAM H. YOUNG, junior member of the firm of Young & Young, and a well known member of the Dayton Bar, was born in Dayton on March 2, 1860, and is the son of the late Edmond S. and Sarah D. Young. He was educated in the Dayton public schools. After leaving the high school, he read law in the office of his father and brother. He was admitted to the Bar in 1884, and upon the death of his father in 1888, became a member of the pres- ent firm of Young & Young. Mr. Young is a Republican in politics, and has usually taken an active part in campaign work. Although he has never held or sought political office, his name has frequently been mentioned in connec- tion with the congressional nomination, and with other honorable positions. He has attained a reputation for eloquence as a speaker-is characterized by
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William Along
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tact, sound business judgment, and great personal magnetism, and is an effect- ive stumper and jury advocate. He has hosts of devoted friends attached to him by his warm-hearted and generous nature, and holds an enviable position at the Bar as an able and successful lawyer. In speaking of him and his brother, a prominent Dayton lawyer said : " Both are strong in their respect- ive positions, and there is no law firm in this section of the State more gen- erally respected by the profession than the firm of Young & Young."
CHARLES W. DALE, Dayton. Without stopping to consider the causes that contributed to that condition, the fact remains that the Dayton Bar, in point of ability, ranks among the very highest in the State. There never has been a time within the past fifty years when the Bar of Montgomery county did not number among its members some of the brightest legal lights in the State, and the same is true to-day and will be twenty-five years hence, because of the logical fact that like causes inevitably produce like effects. In 1840 C. L. Valandigham and Robert C. Schenck were young practitioners at the Dayton Bar, without fortune or fame. Twenty-five years later their utterances attracted the attention of the civilized world. Never before in the history of the Dayton Bar was there such an array of promising young attorneys as at the present time, and a brief sketch of one or two of them will not be without historical value. Among the most conspicuous of these rising lawyers we mention the name of Charles W. Dale, police court judge of Dayton. He was born at Germantown, Montgomery county, Ohio, September 13, 1861. His preparation for his life work began in the public schools of his native town and, fortunately for him, they were good ones. He improved his oppor- tunities and when he was graduated from them he was thought perfectly competent to take the position of instructor, and for four years after com- pleting his course he taught in the public schools of the town. While teaching he continued his studies and read law to such advantage that when, in 1882, he entered the Law Department of the Cincinnati Law School and University, he had a better education than had many men at the beginning of their careers who rose to high places in their profession. He was graduated from that institution in 1883, and the same year was admitted to the Bar and entered on the practice of his profession at Dayton. He used the same degree of energy and intelligence in building up a clientage as he did in obtaining an education, and succeeded in the latter as he did in the former. He compiled a book entitled " Familiar Laws," that has attained quite wide circulation. In 1892, when the police court was established at Dayton, he was elected as its first judge, and so satisfactorily and well did he discharge the duties incum- bent upon him that at the expiration of his term he was re-elected for another term of three years. He possesses the qualifications of a good judge as well as successful advocate. He is well grounded in the principles of law, quick and accurate in his judgments. He is a pleasant, ready and forceful speaker.
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In politics he is a pronounced Republican and takes an active interest in the' success of his party. He was prominently mentioned as the candidate of his party for Common Pleas judge, to succeed Judge Elliot. Judge Date is a bachelor, and a prominent figure in the social life of the city. He has in him the elements of success, and whether he continues on the Bench or practices his profession at the Bar, is destined to rise higher in his calling. To give an idea of the estimation in which he is held, we quote the language of one of the leading members of the Dayton Bar: " In the history of this Bar there are few men who have risen faster in public estimation than has Judge Dale. He has ability, discharges his duty conscientiously under every circumstance and has more than met public expectation. He has met strong public approval as a municipal judge. He has maintained himself well in every position he has occupied since he began his practice at the Bar."
JOHN C. CLARK, Greenville. The descent of Honorable John C. Clark is from three nationalities, English, German and Irish. His father, Benjamin H. Clark. was of English and German extraction, was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Ohio in 1831, as a farmer. His mother's maiden name was Martin, her ancestry German and Irish. He was born in Darke county, January 17, 1849. His early education was obtained in the district school; his boyhood employment was on his father's farm. He had no opportunity to take a course in college, but after completing the branches of study in the common schools he attended the Greenville high school and made such proficiency as enabled him to teach. While engaged in teaching he pursued his studies farther in Latin, mathematics and other sciences, in his- tory and English literature. His inclination to the law was early, and among the influences which attracted him to it may be mentioned the exalted character of the profession ; the numerous avenues it opens for advancement, position and self-culture. He began the study of law with Judge A. R. Catherwood and H. M. Cole, October 6, 1875, and was admitted to the Bar by the District Court at Greenville, in May, 1877. The nature and scope of his practice are such as occupy the time and talents of the average lawyer in country towns. He has endeavored to confine himself to the best class of cases and it has been his habit to refuse cases that appear to have no'merit. His preparation both as to the law and the facts is thorough before he enters upon the trial of a cause. And when such careful preparation has been made his case is presented clearly and conducted vigorously. He has carried into the profession of law the habits which he formed as a student at school, which marked his course while engaged in teaching. The offices which he has held are strictly in the line of his profession. He was prosecuting attorney of Darke county, from January 1, 1881, to January 1, 1886. Since May, 1893, he has been one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas for the Second Judicial District. His execu- tion of the duties of prosecuting attorney was such as to commend him to the
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Oscar W Soyschall
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public. It was marked by ability and discretion in the prosecution of crim- inals and by the strictest fidelity to the interests of society and the common- wealth. His administration of the judicial office has been alike commendable, reflecting credit upon himself and evidencing his high regard for the profes- sion. His aspirations are praiseworthy ; his intentions are honest ; he desires to arrive at a correct conclusion, and is willing to devote to investigation and research all the time necessary to reach it. Although his scholarship is not as broad or his learning as great as the acquirements of some lawyers and jurists, yet it is well understood that the learned are sometimes poor lawyers and that learning and industry combined may not always win the highest success. Good judgment and saving common sense are the most important qualifica- tions of the judiciary. In the practice of law Mr. Clark recognizes the value of the Baconian division for the dispatch of business: " The preparation ; the debate or examination ; and the perfection." His preparation covers every point of the case. In the progress of the trial he sifts the evidence with great care, brings out all the witnesses know, and then perfects his case by a careful presentation of the facts elicited by the testimony for the consideration of the jury. He is modest, unpretentious and exceedingly careful that the profes- sion which he has chosen shall not suffer in reputation through any fault of his own. He takes up the duties, official and personal, as they come to him in the daily routine of life and performs them without a disposition to give undue prominence to his personality. In the summer of 1869 Judge Clark was nomi- nated in Columbus for judge of the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial Circuit of Ohio, competing therefor with some of the ablest lawyers of the circuit. In the November election he carried his home county by the largest majority ever given to any candidate with a competitor, and would have been elected but for the unprecedented majorities given against his party in Frank- lin and Montgomery counties. He was married September 27, 1888, to Miss Ada J. Greene, of Franklin, a highly educated and cultured young lady.
OSCAR M. GOTTSCHALL, Dayton. Mr. Gottschall is head of the firm of Gottschall & Crawford. He was born at Newark, Ohio, on the 14th day of August, 1843, but was brought up in Dayton, to which city his parents removed when he was but two years old. His parents were John and Abigail Jane (Conklin) Gottschall, the former of German and the latter of Dutch descent. His paternal grandfather was a native of Germany, who came to America in the forc part of this century and settled in Pennsylvania. His father removed in carly manhood to Ohio, and has continued to live in that State. Mr. Gottschall's mother is descended from Dutch stock, which settled in New York State in colonial times. Her grandfather took an honorable part in the war for independence, fighting in the Continental army during the memorable struggle. Oscar M. Gottschall's early education was obtained in the public schools of Dayton, where he graduated from the high school in the
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class of 1861. He at once commenced the study of law in the office of the late Edmond S. Young, one of the most conspicuous members of the Dayton Bar, which he continued for about one year. In August, 1862, he laid aside his text- books and his personal aspirations to take up arms in defense of his country. He enlisted in Company K, Ninety-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to quartermaster sergeant of his company. In January, 1863, he was made sergeant major of his regiment, and in 1864 was raised to the position of adjutant, which place he held until his muster out, June 25, 1865. His regiment was first attached to General Gilbert's brigade in Kentucky, and later to McCook's corps in the Army of the Cumberland. He participated with his regiment in all the hard fighting of that army, from Stone River to Atlanta, and later, under General Thomas, in the final defeat of Hood in Tennessee. He was twice wounded, first at the battle of Chicka- mauga, and again at the battle of Mission Ridge. His promotion to the adjutancy of his regiment was the result of the recommendation of his supe- rior officer for gallantry and meritorious conduct on the battle field of Chicka- mauga. After the close of the war he resumed his studies in the office of Mr. Young, at Dayton, and was admitted to the Bar on May 12, 1866. He at once entered upon the practice of law in partnership with his preceptor, under the firm name of Young & Gottschall. In 1878 Mr. George R. Young was admitted into the firm, which became Young, Gottschall & Young, and continued until 1879, when Mr. Gottschall withdrew. He then formed a partnership with R. D. Marshall, the firm being Marshall & Gottschall. This association continued until September, 1883, when the firm was dissolved, Mr. Gottschall continuing in practice alone until February, 1885, when the firm of Gottschall & Brown was formed by the admission of Mr. O. B. Brown. In 1893, Mr. Ira Crawford, Jr., was admitted to the firm, which became Gottschall, Brown & Crawford, and so remained until Judge Brown was elected to the Bench, in July, 1896. May 1, 1897, Mr. L. F. Limbert became associated with Gottschall & Craw- ford, and October 1st the style of the firm became Gottschall, Crawford & Limbert. Mr. W. S. McCormaughey is also associated with the firm. Early in his professional career Mr. Gottschall was recognized as a man of force and a lawyer of ability, which soon brought him a profitable clientage and one of the best character. His thirty years of practice in the State and Federal courts have brought him a reputation as a lawyer deservedly high, and a business that is remunerative. He is purely a lawyer; his profession is his ambition. HIe stands high in the esteem of his brethren at the Bar, and is regarded as a fearless advocate and a fair opponent. Speaking of his practice and ability as a lawyer, and his position as a citizen, one of the leading members of the Day- ton Bar remarked :
"Oscar M. Gottschall ranks with the leading attorneys of the Bar of this district. IIe is a capable man and maintains himself well either as a counsel- lor or before a court or jury. In some of his characteristics he is without a peer, and, I may say, without an equal at this Bar. Judging by his writing you might take him for a professor of penmanship in a commercial college, and he is very rapid. He began practice here soon after the close of the war
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and was not long in building up a fairly remunerative practice. He was for- tunate in the selection of his preceptor, and being an apt pupil he was a pretty good lawyer when he entered on the practice of his profession. He has always been a close student and in the earlier years of his practice he was associated with old and strong attorneys, which was also to his advantage. He has never been anything else than a lawyer. He has eschewed politics and, I believe, never held an elective office, certainly none outside the line of his profession. His practice is large and remunerative and runs through all the courts from the Common Pleas to the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a good all round lawyer, and there is no part of the work of an attorney that he does not do well. He is conscientious in the discharge of his duties to his clients, and fair in the treatment of his opponents. He is noted for per- fect integrity and a moral character above reproach, and is ardently devoted to his profession. He is quiet in his manners, studious in his habits, and the most of his leisure hours are spent with his books and in the family circle."
In politics Mr. Gottschall is a Republican. Though he takes no active part in politics, he does not shirk the responsibility of citizenship and is among the public spirited citizens of Dayton. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic Order and of the Loyal Legion. He is a member of the First Bap- tist Church of Dayton. He was married April 15, 1869, to Miss Octavia T. Soule, daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Mead Soule. Her father, Charles Soule, was a prominent artist of the West, and his work in portraits was held in the highest estimation by art critics and by those whose portraits he painted. The Soule family traces its genealogy back three hundred years in England, and the founder of the American branch, together with the founder of the Mead family in America, came over in the Mayflower in 1620. Mr. and Mrs. Gottschall have a pleasant home, but no children.
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