USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 41
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years old), indicted for shooting his father, Joseph Wonderly. Judge Sutphen and the same associate counsel defended. The prosecution was conducted by Judge Selwyn N. Owen, afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, and Honorable A. M. Pratt, of Bryan, in association with the prosecuting attorney, both of whom were lawyers of very marked ability. The defense sought to justify the killing by showing that it was done by the boy in defend- ing his mother against an assault then and there about to be committed on her by his father. His mother was locked in a room, the door to which his father was breaking open with a hatchet, when defendant came to her rescue with a gun ; the father then turned upon him and defendant used the gun, believ- ing both his mother and himself to be in imminent danger. The verdict was manslaughter and the penalty a term in the penitentiary. After serving his time young Wonderly returned to the neighborhood, and not finding things satisfactory, drove off a bunch of cattle to which he had no title, for which he was convicted of grand larceny. Judge Sutphen was then on the Bench and it became his duty to pass sentence on his former client. He defended the Lantz Brothers and the Clements Brothers, four charged in one indictment with the murder of a bully named Snyder, by assaulting, beating and kicking him. Counsel succeeded, by proving that Snyder had made threats of personal violence against his assailants and provoked the assault, thereby in reducing the crime to the grade of manslaughter, for which a verdict was rendered. As prose- cuting attorney he secured the conviction and fifteen years in the penitentiary of a negro named Canter for killing by abuse and neglect a colored orphan girl who had a home in Canter's family. While Judge Sutphen has taken many important criminal cases as a general practitioner, his main practice is in civil and commercial business, which has long been large and well managed. He has the confidence of business men and the community at large. He was mar- ried in 1863 to Miss Sarah Huss, whose parents settled in Tiffin when it con- tained only three small houses. The Huss family, of German descent, first settled in Virginia and removed to Ohio at the beginning of the century. Judge and Mrs. Sutphen have two children, a daughter and a son. The daughter, Minnie G., an accomplished musician, has adopted voice culture as a profession. The son, Richard H., is a student in the classical course of the University of Michigan. Judge Selwyn N. Owen, of Columbus, contributes the following :
"Of Honorable Silas T. Sutphen it may be said that the profession of the law is his pride and pet. Few lawyers within the circle of the writer's acquaintance with the Bar of northwestern Ohio exhibit a more undivided devotion to the practice. Chiefly for this reason all clients are alike to him. He never had a case apparently so trifling, or involving so little, that his desire and determination to win it by all honorable means did not arise to the dignity of ambition. Early in his practice he learned to appreciate the fact (which every lawyer ought to realize) that an attorney may have a deserving case for a case but a somewhat 'tough case' for a client. He will deliver an uncom- promising battle for a client's case when he would feel degraded and com- promised to be seen talking with that same client on the street. It would not
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be true to say of him that it requires a surgical operation to work a joke into his head; but it would be true to say of him that he never finds any use for fun or levity in a law-suit, unless it is all on his side, or unless he feels very sure that be will be able to turn it to his client's account ; and even in such a case he always prefers that the trial should be-what to him every law-suit is- a matter of serious concern to him and his client. He has been heard to say to his adversaries : 'Boys, if I can have the victory, you may have all the fun.' He has no superiors and few equals among his associates, as an advocate. His power and his success in that capacity may be easily ascribed to the fact that the practice of the law is to him a serious affair. If he possesses one quality which more than any other commends him to the writer's favor and admira- tion, it is that he never plans to secure the presence on a jury of a partisan or a biased friend. The writer has heard him say : 'I have had my best luck before jurors who were thoroughly impartial and who had nothing to think of but the cold merits of the case on trial.' This was not simply a theory with him, but a practical principle whose wisdom and usefulness he had tested by experience. He never forgets to be (what every lawyer ought to be) a gentle- man. He never forgets his dignity, and while free from austerity and of easy approach, no adversary at the Bar and no judge on the Bench ever had good cause to complain of his neglect of any rule of gentlemanly deportment. To the writer he is better known as a practitioner than as a judge ; but his unquali- fied success on the Bench may be easily attributed to the very qualities which characterize his conduct at the Bar. In his habits he is faultless ; in his pecun- iary affairs successful far above the average of the profession ; in his business relations integrity and promptness are his guides ; neat in dress, of pleasing address and attractive presence, Judge Sutphen is easily recognizable as one of the conspicuous figures of northwestern Ohio."
COOPER K. WATSON, Tiffin. Among the lawyers who practiced at the Bar and the judges who presided on the Bench of north central Ohio, none excelled Cooper K. Watson. Mr. Watson was a Kentuckian, born in Jeffer- son county, on the 18th day of June, 1810, but while yet a boy came to Ohio. In early life he was favored with few advantages and very limited educational facilities. From youth he was required to earn his living, and as a means of support was apprenticed to a merchant tailor. For a few years he continued to work at his trade, but arriving at an age of personal independence, he soon found the sphere to which he was best adapted. He began the study of law under a capable instructor at Newark, and soon qualified himself for admission to the Bar. For several years he practiced in Marion, where he held the office of prosecuting attorney. In 1850 he moved to Tiffin, with the prospect of making it his permanent home. And here he remained for twenty years or more engaged in his chosen profession, without challenge taking the position to which his abilities and experience gave him title-always in the front rank of his profession. His intellectual and moral integrity, his geniality of temper, his pleasing social traits secured confidence and friendship everywhere. Ilis acquaintance was large among the best and highest members of the profession throughout Ohio, and his law practice extended through many of the counties
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of the State. He could stand among the giants and hold his own with the best of them in the sharp gladiatorial combats which the forum invites. In the shrewder contests at the trial table he was equally at home, and the hap- less witness who sought to conceal or pervert the truth became an object of commiseration under the merciless fire of his cross-examination. He appeared to have an intuitive perception of the motives and passions that move men, and his penetration was keen enough to pierce any disguise of sham or hypoc- risy. He had no patience with pedantry and was never more manifestly in his element than when engaged in the cross-examination of an expert wit- ness. It was his custom to inform himself thoroughly for such occasions, and the physician called to give expert testimony must be fortified with learning and wisdom and composure if he maintained his position and reputation under the inquisition of so skillful and exasperating a questioner. And yet in the practice of law he was, under all circumstances, strictly and unswervingly honest. He was actuated by lofty motives, and his methods were such as are known to those only who occupy a high place. Mr. Watson was elected to Congress in 1854, as a Free-soiler, and was one of the earliest and foremost advocates of liberty, and the most uncompromising adversaries of the slave power in the House of Representatives. In 1876 he was appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas by Governor R. B. Hayes and was afterward elected for a full term, and died while serving on the bench. During these years he was a resident of Sandusky City. As a man he had the companion- ship and esteem, the admiration and reverence of men highest in the councils and judiciary of the State. He enjoyed the affection of an inner circle to which the geniality of his temperament and brilliancy of his conversation gave him a warm welcome. In 1830 he was married to Miss Caroline S. Durkee of Zanesville, who survived him. Four children are still living -- Mrs. Ellen Loomis and Mrs. Nettie Gilbert of Tiffin, Mrs. Caroline Williard of Monroe, Michigan, and Charles B. Watson. One of his grandsons, John Cooper Loomis of Tiffin, Ohio, bas chosen the legal profession for his life work, and is rapidly preparing for admission to the Bar. Honorable Warren P. Noble, of Tiffin, on request of the editor, has furnished the following characterization :
"No one here was better acquainted with Cooper K. Watson during the zenith of his manhood than the writer of this notice, who was intimately asso- ciated with him in the practice of the profession, as well as social life, for many years. In describing Mr. Watson I would say that, physically, he was a fine specimen of manhood : tall, erect, and of dignified and graceful presence. His social qualities were of a high order : a good, strong thinker, easy and vigor- ous talker, well versed on all ordinary topics of the day, he was sure on almost all occasions in assemblies to have gathered around him quite a coterie of inter- ested listeners. As a nisi prius lawyer he was indeed strong and formidable. His statement of his case was always so clear, so full and so forcible, that there could be no difficulty in making the court and the jury clearly understand just what they were about to try, how it was going to be tried, and what evidence he expected to rely upon to sustain the issue on his side of the case. His examination of witnesses was always clear and direct. And whilst he never, or I will say seldom omitted anything that should be asked, yet as a rule he knew
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when and where to stop so as not to open the door to evidence that was imper- tinent, or that properly belonged to the other side of the case. His cross ex- aminations were always searching, full, and to a witness who sought to tell more than he knew, or through prejudice, or bias, sought to give his testimony any coloring over and above the mere statement of the facts, they were often- times fearfully severe. His arguments, whether upon the law or the facts, were clear, logical, forcible and convincing, so that he was powerful before a jury ; and courts and lawyers, though disagreeing with his conclusions, were oftentimes compelled to admit that his arguments were the best that could be made upon the subject under discussion. Withal, he was one of the most kind, courteous and generous practitioners I have ever been in the habit of meeting in the rough and tumble of the practice. His criticisms of his oppo- nents in the heat of debate and the contest of a trial, no matter what the provo- cation might be, were always characterized by generosity, kindness and courtesy. To show how careful he was in this behalf, I will state that I once knew him to write a brief in a case pending in the Supreme Court in answer to one written on the other side, which he thought demanded or justified some severity of criticism ; and after his brief was printed and ready to submit to the court, on reading it over again he decided that he had overstepped his rule of courtesy, and thereupon he destroyed the whole edition and procured the writing of a new edition, leaving out the offensive matter. So that his oppo- nent in that case never knew of the criticisms made upon him. These traits of courtesy and kindness, in my opinion, contributed greatly to his strength of character. In short, I consider that Cooper K. Watson, in the strength of his professional career, was one of the brightest lights of the Ohio Bar."
Another member of the Tiffin Bar says :
" In physique Judge Watson was a man of magnificent development ; tall, broad shouldered, straight as an arrow, peculiarly graceful in every gesture, with a head worthy of a Webster, and with one of the most sonorous voices ever heard in our court room. He was a man of broad culture, of great liter- ary attainments; a man of the finest insight into character, a social man, a man of good comradeship; a friend who never betraved, a foe who struck not in the back, but who polished his steel in the face of the enemy. As a lawyer he had but few peers in all the broad land. In his practice at the Bar he was a logical reasoner of the law, wonderful in his ability to array facts, expert in examination of witnesses ; a persuasive arguer to the jury. On the Bench he knew not friend or foe, but with a mind clear as crystal, never misled by fine spun theories of an astute lawyer, he could bring his great knowledge of the law to bear upon the clean cut facts as he saw them, and in few words render his decisions-decisions seldom reversed. Either as advocate or judge, he was always kind and courteous, and only when human patience could endure no more would his manner change from his habitual friendly courtesy to that of severity. Then woe to the unfortunate one who had invoked the bitter sar- casms and fierce invectives which were hurled from the lips of this man in the defense of truth and justice. There have been few lawyers such as Cooper K. Watson, and well could he have filled a place on the Supreme Bench of the United States. Even as early as 1849, and from that date, Cooper K. Watson was a warm friend of such men as Salmon P. Chase. So highly was he esteemed for his great mental strengthi, his judgment on all questions pertain- ing to the Nation's good, his unswerving fidelity to his political principles, his loyalty to his country, that in the hour of ber greatest trial he was called to Washington by Secretary Chase, there to confer with President Lincoln and his cabinet on subjects of the greatest national importance. Such a man was
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Cooper K. Watson, a man, who as citizen, as associate, as practitioner at the Bar, as judge upon the Bench, was one to be loved, to be honored, to be revered and never to be forgotten."
JAMES L. PRICE, Lima. James Latimer Price is judge of the Third Judi- cial District. He is a native of Ohio, born on a farm at New Hagerstown, Carroll county, March 27, 1840, the son of Benjamin and Mary Douglas Price, who were both natives of Washington county, Pennsylvania, and removed to Ohio in 1810. His boyhood was passed in hard work incident to clearing and cultivating a farm, from which the respite was attending common school dur- ing the winter months. Subsequently he took a full course in the new Hagerstown Academy, whose course of study was so arranged as to prepare students for admission to the Senior class of other colleges. He was graduated from this academy in 1859, but instead of attending college he immediately took up the study of law in the office of General E. R. Eckley, of Carrollton, with whom he remained as a student for three years. He was admitted to the Bar in September, 1862, and began the practice of law at Carrollton, where he remained until April, 1865, when he removed to Van Wert. There he formed a partnership with I. D. Clark, ex-Probate Judge, which was con- tinucd for three years, and thereafter he practiced alone until his removal to Lima in 1883. In the latter city he formed a partnership with George W. Overmyer, ex-Probate Judge of Allen county, which was dissolved by mutual consent in 1887. After that Judge Price continued in the practice alone, a practice which has been general, extending into a number of the neighboring counties, and embracing cases in both State and Federal courts. His knowl- edge of the law is wide and thorough, and his abilities in practice have been recognized by all the lawyers who come in contact with him in contested cases. His persistence and devotion to the interests of a client are well illus- trated in the case of Goins, which is celebrated in local annals and known throughout. the country as the case in which the verdict was determined by lottery. Goins was a poor negro, who, with three others of his race, was set upon by a mob of toughs on the night of the election in 1888 in one of the principal streets of Lima, and in the melee which followed, a white man, mem- ber of the attacking party, was killed. Fred Harrison, one of the negroes, was convicted of his murder and sentenced to imprisonment for twenty years. Goins was indicted as aider and abettor of the crime and tried separately. He was ably defended by Judge Price and J. W. Halfhill. The jury returned a verdict of "guilty of murder in the second degree," but immediately there- after the fact became known that the verdict had been arrived at in an irreg- ular way. It was admitted by members of the jury that they agreed among themselves to prepare twenty-four ballots, one-half of them marked "man- slaughter," and the other half " murder in the second degree ;" place all of these ballots in a hat and permit each juror to draw one. This was done, and
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on the second drawing eight of the ballots for " murder in the second degree " were drawn, and a verdict returned in accordance with the prior agreement. There were errors in excluding evidence offered by the defense, and in refus- ing to charge as requested by Goin's counsel, and in not defining properly his right of self-defense. Of course a new trial was obtained and the case con- tested with the same spirit as in the first. Judge Price stood by his client with a zeal and fidelity not measured by the amount of his fee, which was very small. Goins was acquitted on the second trial. Politically Judge Price has always been a very earnest Republican. The first official position to which he was elected was that of prosecuting attorney for Carroll county, in 1863. He was elected to the same office in Van Wert county three times, 1868, 1870 and 1872, holding the office for six years. In November, 1894, he was elected Circuit Judge of the Third Judicial District for a term of six years. Lima is the home of Senator Brice, and this section is recognized as one of the Democratic strongholds in the State. The sixteen counties com- prising the judicial district gave Mr. Cleveland a majority of more than 12,000 votes, in 1892, and Judge Price carried the same counties by a majority of 3,905 as candidate for judge on the Republican ticket, in November, 1894. This vote is a tribute to his personal popularity and his acknowledged fitness for the judicial office. Hc is known as a man who never swerves from the line of duty, as he believes and understands it. The two remaining judges on this circuit are Henry W. Seny and James H. Day. One of the successful and well known lawyers of the circuit says : "Judge Price has been on the Bench but a short time, and yet long enough to convince members of the Bar that he will fill the office with credit to himself and satisfaction to all. He has already delivered some very able opinions. He never makes any parade of his official position, and has the rare faculty of never losing his compo- sure. With his natural abilities, legal attainments, genial manner and close attention to business, he won for himself a leading position as an attorney. He was quick to grasp the most intricate questions of law and was very suc- cessful in practice." He has been married twice ; the first time January 1, 1863, to Martha Guincy, of New Hagerstown, who died in August, 1866. March 8, 1868, he was married to Elizabeth Marshall, of Van Wert, formerly of Piqua, and a niece of R. D. Marshall, a prominent attorney of Dayton. He has only one child living, Charles F., who is city editor of the Lima Daily Times and correspondent of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Judge Price is a man of irreproachable character, a member of the Presbyterian Church, a Mason and a member of Shawnee Commandery No. 14 Knights Templar. He has won a position at the Bar on merit, and maintained since he came to the Bench the excellent reputation established in practice. Holding the con- fidence of his brethren and of the public alike, he aims to retain it by the hon- esty and impartiality which are essential in the judicial office.
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JAMES M. BROWN, of Toledo, a son of Hiram J. L. and Rosanna P. Brown, was born in Delaware county, Ohio, where his father followed the triple avocation of farmer, miller and merchant. Mr. Brown's education was received in the public schools of Delaware and at Ohio Wesleyan University. At an early age he became an apprentice in the office of the Olentangy Gazette, now the Delaware Gazette. following the printing business in all of its depart- ments for seven years, during the latter part of which period he was the owner and editor of the Oskaloosa Herald, at Oskaloosa, Iowa. In 1858 he gave up the printing business and read law in the office of Lee & Brewer, at Tiffin, Ohio; two years later he was admitted to practice and began his professional career at Lima, Ohio, with William E. Lee, under the firm name of Lee & Brown. During the period of the war Mr. Brown served as deputy United States marshal for the Northern District, and also as assistant United States assessor of internal revenue for the Fifth Congressional District of Ohio. The faithful performance of the duties of the former office during that troublesome period, and especially when the Knights of the Golden Circle were organized, involved great personal risk and called for a high degree of prudence and courage. In 1865 he was married to Miss Lavinia C. Folger, daughter of Robert H. Folger, of Massillon, who continued his faithful helpmate until her death in 1887. A daughter and two sons survive her. He continued the prac- tice of law at Lima until 1869, when he formed a partnership with his former preceptor, General John C. Lee, then lieutenant governor of the State, and removed to Toledo, where. under the firm name of Lee & Brown, the new firm opened an office and continued in active practice until 1891, when General Lee died. In 1893 he organized the firm of James M. & Walter F. Brown, the latter being his eldest son. Mr. Brown is a fluent, forceful and convincing speaker, and whether at the Bar, before the jury, or in the political arena, com- mands close attention. He has recently concluded a notable criminal case in the United States Court, in which his client, a former cashier of a wrecked national bank, was tried upon an indictment em bracing sixteen different offenses against the United States banking acts, every one of which involved a minimum penalty of five years in the penitentiary, and in the trial of which the government exerted every effort to convict. After an exhausting legal bat- tle of more than two weeks, closing with a charge by the court requiring half a day for its delivery, Mr. Brown's client was acquitted upon every charge. From numerous editorial comments upon that case in the Toledo newspapers, the following is taken from the Toledo Commercial of February 5, 1897 :
"The Hughes case, which came to a termination in the United States dis- trict court in this city yesterday afternoon, before Judge Hammond, after a hotly contested trial of two weeks, was, in the wide interest excited, and the points of law raised and decided, one of the most important recently disposed of. Honorable James M. Brown, of this city, was the chief counsel for the defendant, and to the masterful, untiring and aggressive defense of the case by this able and trained lawyer the unexpected acquittal of Mr. Hughes was due. "The defendant, one of the most highly connected citizens of Lima, was the cashier of the wrecked Lima National Bank, in which Senator Calvin Brice
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James M. Broward
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was the chief stockholder. While bad business methods were pursued by the defendant, the superior management of the defense created the impression of good intent on the part of the defendant, and throughout the case there was a failure to show that he had profited a cent from the misfortunes, or mistakes, which had wrecked the bank. There had, apparently, been irregular conduct on the part of the cashier and other officers of the management, with the hope of maintaining the credit of the bank, so as to enable it to weather the storm, but there the line was drawn, and on this position the defense massed its strength, and with consummate generalship warded off every charge of criminal intent. Some idea may be formed of the stubbornness with which the case was fought to a finish when it is stated that the argument of Mr. Brown and the United States district attorney before the jury each occupied thirteen hours. Altogether, the victory achieved in securing the acquittal of his client, by Mr. Brown, was a most notable one."
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