USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 38
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of both political parties. His familiarity with municipal laws and correct interpretation of municipal privileges were so marked that he came to be regarded as an authority on such questions. Since he retired from the office he has invariably been called into consultation in all matters of importance concerning the interests of the municipality. He was appointed postmaster by President Cleveland in 1887 and retained the office until a change of the national administration brought the appointment of a successor. His admin- istration of the office was eminently satisfactory. In 1890 he was chosen president of the board of trade of Springfield, Ohio, and in that position had ample opportunity to demonstrate the versatility of his talents. From 1885 to 1890 he was one of the trustees of the Mitchell Hospital, Springfield. On the death of Judge White in 1890 he was appointed by Governor Campbell to fill his unexpired term. His broad knowledge of the law and equitably balanced mind fitted him peculiarly for the Bench, and his services there were remarkably satisfactory. He has been trustee of the associated charities for a period of ten years. He was president of Clark County Bar Association, 1892 and 1893. In political faith Mr. Hagan is a Democrat and in every con- test for office to which he has been elected he has had to overcome a large adverse majority. He is well versed in the foundation principles of law and has a large general practice. He is held in high esteem by the profession, both as a man and a lawyer. He was married May 21, 1881, to Miss Justina Bevitt, daughter of Dr. Bevitt, of St. Charles, Missouri. They have three children, Francis Marion, Hugh and Margaret. The judge attends the Presby- terian Church with his family, though he himself is not a member.
EDWARD N. HUGGINS, Columbus. Mr. Huggins was born on the 6th day of November, 1860, at Mount Oreb, Brown county, Ohio. His father was James E. Huggins, a farmer, born in Ohio. His grandfather was a native of North Carolina and came to Ohio about the first of the present century, settling in Brown county. The family is of Scotch-Irish extraction. They came to this country and settled originally in Pennsylvania. The great-grandfather Huggins removed thence to North Carolina about the time of the American Revolution. Another great-grandfather, Robert Irwin, father of his grand- mother on the father's side, was one of the pioneers of North Carolina, and one of the framers of the noted Mechlenburg Declaration of Independence. The grandfather of Mr. Huggins, Robert Huggins, with a brother, William Huggins, left North Carolina on account of slavery and came to Ohio under the leadership of Rev. James Gilliland, a Presbyterian minister of anti-slavery principles, and most of whose parishioners followed him from North Carolina to Ohio, where in Brown county on Red Oak creek, a few miles north of Ripley on the Ohio river, Mr. Gilliland, very early in this century, founded the Red Oak Presbyterian Church. This little pioneer church was intensely anti-slavery, and in the exciting contests that arose on the slavery
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question became a noted point on the border, both for the dissemination of anti-slavery doctrines and as a safe retreat for fugitives fleeing from slavery across the Ohio. Mr. Huggins's grandfather lived for some years near Red Oak. He then bought land on Whitewater Creek, farther back from the river, and cleared out a farm, and there his family of five sons and one daughter were brought up. Until the day of his death his house was a station on the " underground railroad," guarded by his stalwart sons. It became a saying on the border that if a negro fleeing from slavery got into the Huggins neighborhood he was safe. His mother, Arethusa Catherine Dibold, was born in Pennsylvania in 1820, and shortly afterwards removed with her parents to Ohio. His grandfather on the mother's side was a prominent physician. The Dibolds are descended from the Collins-Huntington family, of New England, some of whom were prominent in the struggle for American independence during the Revolution. Young Huggins attended the common schools of Brown county and afterwards continued his academic education at the Hillsborough academy ; but to his parents he is indebted for a broader and more liberal education. Both his father and mother devoted much time and care to his training. At the age of twenty-one he entered the office of Judge Samuel F. Steel, of Hillsboro, Ohio, and commenced the study of law, remaining under his direction for two years. In the fall of 1883 he entered the Senior class of the Cincinnati Law School and was graduated in June, 1884. While in Cincinnati he was for a time in the office of W. H. Taft, now judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals. Immediately after receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws he settled in Columbus, where he has since resided. In the following spring he formed his first partnership, with J. G. McGuffey, under the firm name of McGuffey & Huggins. Three years later this partnership was dissolved and he formed a partnership with Honorable I). K. Watson, who was then attorney general of Ohio. The relation thus formed continued four years, when it was dissolved and the firm of Huggins & Sowers was formed, which still continues in existence. Mr. Huggins is a lawyer of ability and few men of his age enjoy a larger busi- ness. The character of his practice is general. He is an original thinker and an effective orator. In politics he has always been a Republican and taken an active interest in all political affairs. Heis in great demand during campaigns and has made inany public speeches in behalf of his party. He was the candidate of his party for Congress in 1892. In 1896, at the request of Governor Mckinley, his personal friend, he was a candidate for delegate to the National Republi- can Convention held at St. Louis. In October, 1890, Mr. Huggins was married to Clara E., daughter of the late Dr. W. W. Ellsbury, of Brown county, an ex-member of Congress. There are no children.
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JAMES W. ROBINSON, Marysville. Honorable James W. Robinson was born in Darby township, Union county, Ohio, on his father's farm, November 28, 1826. He is of Scotch-Irish extraction and one of the eight children born to John W. and Elizabeth Mitchell Robinson. His paternal ancestors were Presbyterians, and his grandfather, Rev. James Robinson, was a zealous and prominent minister of that church, a man of acknowledged piety, great zeal, and distinguished for his faithful and effective service in the cause of the Master in western Pennsylvania and Central Ohio. His father, John W. Robinson, brought up in the faith of his fathers, was an elder in the Presbyte- rian Church for many years and a capable man in his personal affairs, as well as public business. Although a farmer during his entire life, he held the offices of justice of the peace and county commissioner ; was highly esteemed for his integrity and uprightness until his death, in 1853. His mother, a woman of remarkable gentleness of disposition, as well as strength of char- acter, was a native of Union county, Ohio, and a daughter of Judge David Mitchell, who settled in the Territory of Ohio in the closing year of the last century. Judge Mitchell was a strong man in ability, moral character and purpose. He was one of the first associate judges of Union county. James W. Robinson was born at a time when it was the fashion for boys to work. There were no "gentleman farmers" in the neighborhood ; all were working farmers occupying small tracts of land, covered for the most part with pri- meval forests. The occupation of his boyhood was to assist in clearing the underbrush, opening up a farm and cultivating the soil among the stumps of the new clearings. It was toil early and late-the kind of toil that raises blisters on the hands and stone bruises on the bare feet; toil that is in the nature of an investment and finds its chief present reward in hope of better things for the future. He was favored above many of his fellows in having intelligent ancestors who were liberally educated, and who transmitted to him more than average intelligence, a tendency to do right and a disposition to perform the duty of the present as it came to him. An aspiration for learn- ing was also a part of his inheritance, and with eagerness he made use of the meager advantages afforded in the district schools, which he attended a part of each winter until fifteen years of age. His fondness for books and the desire for learning increased with his years and his knowledge. His father wisely decided to permit him to follow his own leadings to the fullest possible extent. This decision was rendered easier by the delicate physical organism of the boy, and a condition of health which in some degree unfitted him for the labor of the farm. Therefore young Robinson placed himself under the instruction of Robert Wilson, a successful teacher who was conducting a pri- vate school near Milford. He made rapid progress in the common branches, and soon evinced a strong inclination to take up the study of Latin. In order to gratify this desire, he was instrumental in securing as teacher of the district school in the neighborhood a man versed in the Latin language. At seventeen he was employed as teacher of a district school, for which he received the customary remuneration of eight dollars a month. During the time of his
IMPO Linson
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employment as teacher he pursued his Latin studies under the instruction of an educated minister living four miles distant, making trips on horseback to attend recitations. Spurred by an ambition to attain high scholarship, he applied himself assiduously under the direction of this minister, until he was qualified, not only to enter college, but for admission to the Sophomore class. He matriculated in Jefferson College at Cannonsburg, Pennsyl- vania, which, subsequently united with Washington, formed Washington and Jefferson College, at Washington, Pennsylvania. He was graduated with honors in 1848 in a class of seventy-two. After leaving college he became principal of a select school at Woodstock for a term, and then settled in Marysville, where he taught in the old academy. Simultaneously with teaching he studied law under the instruction of Otway Curry, then a dis- tinguished lawyer. After this preliminary reading he took a course of lec- tures in the Cincinnati Law School, securing the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1851. He was admitted to the Bar in April of that year, and became associated in partnership with his former preceptor in the law. The firm of Curry & Robinson was one of the strongest and best known in the county, having a large clientage and a profitable business. His next partnership was formed in 1869 with Leonidas Piper, and continued in force for nineteen years. Upon the election of Mr. Piper to the office of Probate Judge, in 1888, Mr. Robinson became associated with his brother, Colonel A. B. Robinson, and Mr. R. L. Woodburn, thus constituting a firm which controlled a large amount of business in the circuit. During his active life Mr. Robinson has given much time to the public service and to politics. Starting as a Whig, he was identified with that party until its dissolution. His deep convictions on the subject of slavery naturally led him to join the band of patriotic men who formed the Republi- can party. And during the forty years that have elapsed he has been one of the able exponents of the principles, and one of the influential supporters of the policies of the Republican party. In 1851, six months after his admission to the Bar, he was elected prosecuting attorney for Union county. In 1857, and again in 1859, he was elected a member of the Lower House of the Ohio legislature, and acquitted himself honorably as a law-maker. His views of the needs of the State were broad and practical, and as chairman of the judiciary committee he was able to exert a wholesome influence on the work of legislation. In 1864 he was again elected to represent his county in the legislature. During the Civil War he was one of the ardent supporters of President Lincoln, unwavering in his devotion to the Union, and active in the work of advancing measures for the prosecution of the war. In 1872 Mr. Robinson was elected as the Republican candidate to represent his district in the Forty-third Congress, defeating General C. W. Morgan. The district then comprised the counties of Union, Hardin, Marion, Morrow, Delaware and Knox. Ile was well qualified for the work of the National House of Repre- sentatives. His knowledge of the law and parliamentary usage, his experience in a legislative body, his readiness in debate, his general information and high principle, gave him a standing and influence in the House of Representatives.
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He had learned the importance of modifying his own views in order to secure the co-operation of others, and carry through important matters of legislation ; but he never compromised on a question of principle, or yielded his convic- tions of duty to conciliate a fellow member. He thought clearly and reasoned well, without any pretense to rhetorical flourish, or what is popularly charac- terized as eloquence. He never claimed the attention of the House without having something important to say, and therefore was able to command atten- tion when he spoke. Some of the important reconstruction measures were considered and passed during his membership of the House. He voted for the civil rights bill, the bill for the resumption of specie payments, and as a mem- ber of the committee on elections opposed the admission of George Q. Cannon, the Mormon representative from Utah-not on account of his religious views but because of his tolerance and practice of polygamy. As a candidate for re-elec- tion in 1874, he was defeated in that reactionary campaign which followed the second election of General Grant, and the Jay Cooke panic of 1873. In 1890 Mr. Robinson was chosen a member of the State Board of Equalization of the real estate of Ohio, on which he was both capable and efficient. He has travelled widely throughout the United States and familiarized himself with the geogra- phy, as well as the people, of the different sections. He has never at any time dis- continued the practice of law since his admission to the Bar, at which he gained a reputation during the early years of his professional life. As a lawyer his success has been eminent, and the dockets of the courts will probably show that he has tried as many cases as any lawyer in the State. His standard has always been high, and he has never resorted to any of the tricks or subterfuges by which a practitioner sometimes gains a temporary advantage. He takes no position that is not tenable, and makes no statement that can be controverted. His method of preparation is such that he is always ready for trial, and he has therefore very seldom asked a continuance or pleaded for any delay. His devotion to a client arises out of the peculiar relation, and is not measured by the amount of the fee or the prospective advantage contingent upon success. He gives to the case of the poor man, where little is at issue, the same consci- entious attention as to that of the rich man whose case involves thousands. His perception is keen, his mind versatile, and be displays remarkable tact in the trial of a cause. He is also remarkable for his capacity to dispatch business. He is a strong, careful pleader, an able trial lawyer. Throughout his life he has been a devoted, zealous member of the Presbyterian Church, and since 1855 has been an elder of the church. He is active in promoting its interests through the Church Extension and Education societies. He is a member of the board of trustees of Wooster University, which in 1896 conferred on him the degree of LL. D. Mr. Robinson has been married twice, the first time in 1855, to Mary J. Cassil, daughter of the late Judge John Cassil, of Marys- ville, a lady of wide influence, sustaining a most excellent Christian character. By this marriage he had two children, Arthur H., who died in his sixteenth year, and Alice B., who died January 13, 1894, less than four months after the death of her mother. July 22, 1896, he was married to Miss Mary E.
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Kent, of Rome, New York, daughter of Daniel and Caroline Palmer Kent. She is a lady of much refinement, who had been principal of one of the Marys- ville schools for ten years prior to her marriage. Mr. Robinson's home life has been beautiful always in the exhibition of those lovable traits of character which bind the members of the family together in mutual bonds of sympathy, affec- tion and trust, and his home offers a delightful hospitality to friends. His whole life, indeed, lias been singularly free from reproach, and his record is entirely clear.
CHARLES D. MARTIN, Lancaster. Fairfield is not as populous as some other counties in Ohio, but has furnished more than her proportion of citizens who have achieved distinction in the legal profession. Of the illustrious dead who added luster to the Lancaster Bar may be mentioned Henry Stanbery, two generations of Ewings, and Judge Hocking Hunter. Of the living, Judge Martin is the most prominent. He is a native of Ohio, born at Mount Vernon August 5, 1829. His parents were Joseph and Susan (Thomas) Martin, the former of Irish and the latter of English descent. His ancestors on both sides came to America in colonial times, his father's people locating in Pennsylvania and his mother's in Maryland. His paternal grandfather came to Ohio in 1806, when his father was a boy, and located in Knox county. His mother's family came to this State from Kentucky about the beginning of the present century and settled in Delaware county. Judge Martin's early education was obtained in the public schools of Mount Vernon, which was supplemented by a course in Kenyon College, at Gambier. He took up the study of law at Lancaster under the tutorship of his relative, John D. Martin, in the office of Martin & Effinger, at that time a prominent law firm of Fairfield county. He took the usual course of two years, and was admitted to the Bar in 1850. He at once began the practice of his profession at Lancaster, and has followed it continuously to the present time, with the exception of two years' service on the Supreme Bencli, as a member of the Supreme Court Commission. He was a hard student, a diligent worker in the interest of his clients, and possessing ready tact and a genial disposition, his rise in the profession was rapid. Thoroughness was his chief characteristic, and he always depended on law and logic to win his case rather than embellished oratory or merely plausible arguments. He was always eminently fair, and never stooped to take a mean advantage. In the fall of 1858 he was nominated on the Democratic ticket to represent his district in Congress, and was elected, his term expiring March 4, 1861. In the following interval of twenty years he continued the practice of law at Lancaster. In 1883 he was appointed by Governor Charles Foster as one of the members of the Supreme Court Commission to assist the Supreme Bench in clearing the docket, which was in arrears some twelve years. He served on this commission three years, when the work they were appointed to do was finished. During this period he discharged the functions of a Judge of the Supreme Court. Thoughi a life-long Democrat, he was appointed to this
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position by a Republican governor, a high tribute to his recognized ability as a lawyer. He was the candidate of his party on the State ticket for Supreme Judge in the years 1885 and 1886, but suffered defeat with the ticket. After retiring from the Bench he resumed the practice of law, which has occupied all of his time and attention to the present time. Judge Martin has made the law profession his life work, has engaged in no other business, and with the exception of his services in Congress, has accepted no office outside of the line of his profession. In his political alignment he is a Democrat, but he has taken no active part in politics in recent years. Judge Martin was married in 1873 to Miss Anna Mithoff, daughter of the late G. A. Mithoff, of Lancaster. They have three children living.
PHILEMON BEECHER STANBERY, Pomeroy. Philemon Beecher, a native of Virginia, was an eminent member of the great Bar at Lancaster, of which Thomas Ewing was so long the acknowledged leader. His daughter married the late Henry Stanbery, who was the second member of that Bar, in point of ability and distinction. Philemon Beecher Stanbery was one of the five children born to Henry Stanbery and Frances E. Beecher, and in his christening was perpetuated the full name of his grandfather. Springing from such parentage, Judge Stanbery was naturally a lawyer. He could scarcely avoid active relations with the profession, save by violating every native impulse and every hereditary attribute. He was born at Lancaster, where his father had begun the practice of law, May 5, 1832, and his education was begun in the public schools. He then spent four years in the Kinsley Military Academy, situated on the Hudson river one mile below West Point, entering at thirteen and leaving at seventeen years of age. Like his father, he was fond of books and had aspirations for broad, classical scholarship. He progressed rapidly, mastering the text-books readily. At seventeen he entered Kenyon College, Gambier, where he remained two years. Kenyon was at that time one of the most reputable institutions for higher education in the West. Men who afterwards achieved great distinction were members of its classes. Mr. Stanbery, however, for satisfactory reasons, decided to complete his college course in the Ohio University, at Athens. IIe matriculated in the University, and was graduated in 1853. His first productive labor after graduation was in assisting a corps of civil engineers in surveying the line and establishing the grade of the Ohio Central and Little Miami railroads. When this work was completed, in 1856, he went to Fort Des Moines, afterwards the capital of Iowa, where he was admitted to the Bar, and opened an office for the practice of law. During his college course and subsequent thereto he had quietly and persistently pursued a course of reading and study in the law, under the direc- tion of his father, and without much ado he was qualified for practice. He remained only two years at Des Moines and then removed to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he resided until 1860. He was not satisfied with the West. His consciousness was never pervaded with a home-feeling west of the Mississippi.
The Century Publishing & Engraving to Chicago.
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He felt the restraint of attachment to his native State, and this attachment drew him back after a restless sojourn of four years on the border. He settled at Pomeroy and established himself in the law, first forming a partnership with Captain S. A. Burnap, which continued several years. At the opening of the Rebellion Mr. Stanbery offered his services as a volunteer in the Union army, and was mustered in as first lieutenant of Company E, Fourth Regiment West Virginia Infantry, in July, 1861. He was at once appointed adjutant of the regiment, and in 1862 was selected by General H. B. Ewing as chief of staff, which position he held until his return to his regiment, in 1863. He was severely wounded at the siege of Vicksburg, in 1863, and in consequence of disability occasioned therefrom, received an honorable discharge from the serv- ice September 10, 1863. Upon returning from the field of carnage to the quiet and peaceful pursuits of home, Mr. Stanbery resumed the practice of law and enlarged his business gradually, keeping pace with the growth of his town and the increase of litigation. He was very soon elected mayor of Pomeroy, discharging both the administrative and judicial duties apper- taining to the office with such popular approval as to command re-elec- tion again and again. In 1870 he was elected Probate Judge of Meigs county, and subsequently was re-elected twice, holding the office nine successive years. Judge Stanbery administered the estates which passed through his hands wisely and honestly. All of the rights and interests of widows and orphans, heirs and legatees were carefully protected. His official duty was performed in accordance with the law and his own sense of justice, without favor or prejudice. His intellectual integrity and moral hon- esty, no less than the obligation imposed by his oath of office, impelled not simply a financial accounting, but also painstaking investigation to ascertain the right and the equity of every claim, whether of heir or creditor. Through it all he maintained the judicial acumen, the unswerving impartiality and the discriminating sense of justice which belong to the legal mind ; the sensitive- ness to criticism and the delicate appreciation of honor, which are among the noteworthy characteristics of the noble and high-spirited man. In public office and in private life he has proved his fitness to be designated as the upright judge, the honest man. Judge Stanbery manages the business end of things with exceeding shrewdness and gratifying success. His financial ability is large. His personal affairs have prospered under wise forethought and exceptional sagacity. He has accumulated a fortune without the risk attendant upon promiscuous speculation. IIis investments are safe and legitimate. His standing among men is eminently honorable. In law he is a good counsellor ; in finance a cautious, prudent manager ; as a man and a citizen he is regardful of personal and civic virtue. He takes pride in perpetuating the comradeship and the memory of grand achievements of the late war, by active membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. He belongs to Gamaliel Bartlett Post, of Pomeroy. Judge Stanbery was married November 20, 1867, to Miss Mar- garet M. Hart. Five children were born of this union : Cecilia, Henry, Philemon B., Hart and Louisa. All of them are living except the eldest
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