USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 51
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company contested this verdict in both the Circuit and Supreme Courts, but it was sustained by both courts and paid by the company. There were two other attorneys associated with Mr. Masters in this case, Mr. Emory in its earlier stages and the Honorable Frank Hurd, of Toledo, at the final trial. In the two cases of the State against Plummer and Elkins, Mr. Masters rendered the prosecutor very efficient aid. His closing arguments to the jury in these cases were pronounced by the press and the public to be among the most effect- ive ever delivered before a jury in Williams county. They were logical, forceful and eloquent, adding much to his already high reputation as a suc- cessful trial lawyer. In June, 1896, he formed a partnership with W. W. Truvelle for the practice of the law, with offices at Toledo, where the firm is building up a lucrative practice. Mr. Masters is prominent in social circles ; is a member of the Masonic fraternity ; has been and now is master of the Bryan Lodge F. and A. M. He has been H. P. of the Chapter, a member of Defiance Commandery K. of P. He is active in support of the Republican party, in whose principles he is a firm believer. He is at present a member of the Republican State central committee. He was married in March, 1880, to Miss Alice Joy, daughter of G. R. and Lucy Joy, prominent and respected citizens of Williams county. They have two children, one son and one daughter. The estimate of a prominent lawyer who knows him well is quoted :
" He was, in 1894, associated in behalf of the county of Williams with John M. Killetts, prosecuting attorney of the county, in the trial of certain indictments for murder found by the grand jury of the county against Walter Plummer and William B. Elkins, and in these cases Mr. Masters and Mr. Killetts distinguished themselves as careful, painstaking and able lawyers. The cases both resulted in the conviction of the prisoners and their sentence for life to the Ohio penitentiary. As an attorney at law Mr. Masters is com- bative, aggressive and unyielding in his efforts to establish the rights of his clients. He has a good knowledge of the law, as good perhaps as will be found in lawyers above the average in general practice. He is a good student, resourceful and self-reliant. He is young in years, in good health and of strong physique, and admirably adapted to stand the hard work of this most exacting profession. Without doubt he will in the future, should he continue in practice, by reason of his mental make-up and habits of study, become one of the able members of the legal fraternity." Another, who has spent seven years in practice with him, says of Mr. Masters : " While I regard him a good all round lawyer and of excellent ability, my impression is that his special forte lies in commercial litigation. He is, besides, a good advocate and skillful in presenting a case to a jury. He has an analytical mind and is well read in legal principles."
DENNIS D. DONOVAN, Deshler. While young in active practice, Mr. Donovan has had a thoroughly practical education, a varied experience, and has achieved distinction in the field of politics. He has represented his. county in the State legislature and his district in the National Congress, and was re-elected in both instances. He has been a law student for the past fourteen years, but his business engagements and official duties have prevented
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him from engaging in active practice until his return from Congress in the spring of 1895. He is a native of Ohio and of Henry county, born January 31, 1859. His parents, John and Catherine (Hannan) Donovan, are both natives of Ireland, the former of the County Cork and the latter of Sligo. Both came to America and settled in Canada in early life, and both removed later to Henry county, where they met, were married, made their home, accumulated a competenee and gained the respect of the entire community. Mr. Donovan, at the age of eighty, is still living in Deshler, in the enjoyment of fair health and the fruits of the labor of other years. Dennis D. Donovan's early education was obtained in the public school of his district, going to school in winter, and in summer assisting with the work on his father's farm. Later he attended the Northern Indiana Normal Sehool, at Valparaiso, for two years, when he left his class and took up the role of instructor. For three years he followed as an avocation what has been a stepping stone to high places for many prominent citizens. He began his higher education with a view of enter- ing the law profession, and during the years he was at Valparaiso he kept up a course of reading from law text-books, which he continued while teaching. In 1883, without abandoning his cherished idea of the law, he entered into the mercantile business, combining with it the buying and shipping of hard wood lumber, timber, etc. Two years after embarking in business, he was appointed postmaster at Deshler, and held that position, keeping the office at one of his stores, until he was elected to the legislature, in 1887. So well were his con- stituents satisfied with his services as a law-maker, they re-elected him to the same position in the fall of 1889. Before the expiration of this last term he was nominated on the Democratic ticket to represent the Sixth Congressional District in the Fifty-second Congress, and was elected the following Novem- ber by a majority of 1,700 votes. By a reorganization of the congressional districts in 1891, Henry county was transferred to the Fifth District and Mr. Donovan was, in 1892, made the candidate of his party to represent the new distriet in the Fifty-third Congress, and was elected by an inereased majority. The last year of his second term in Congress he entered the law department of the Georgetown University at Washington, where he spent two years in study and attending lectures, and was graduated from that institution with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Returning to Deshler, he at once began the practice of his profession in the courts of IIenry and adjoining counties. In his political creed Mr. Donovan is a staunch Democrat, a firm believer in the con- stitutional principles of Jefferson and Jackson, as well as the financial principles enunciated in the platforms of his party. He has always been an active worker for party success, and a prominent figure in partisan councils. He has been highly honored by his party, and it ean be said that in every position to which he has been called, he has sustained himself well. He was married in 1891 to Miss Genevra C. Waltimire, daughter of J. C. and Nancy Stovenour Waltimire, prominent and popular in the society of Deshler, where Mr. Waltimire is a successful merchant. A well known judge says of Mr. Donovan : " He has twice represented this county in the Ohio legislature, and twice represented
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this district in Congress, all of which was with honorable distinction. He is a lawyer, and while somewhat young in the profession, he has marked ability. He is genial and always courteous, quick at repartee, but kind ; is a scholar and gentleman in the strictest sense."
HOMER MCKENDREE CARPER, Delaware. Amongst the great lawyers and good men of Ohio was the late Homer M. Carper, who died January 14, 1895. Mr. Carper was born in Licking county, Ohio, July 24, 1826, and there- fore had almost rounded out his three score and ten years when called to his reward. He was the son of Rev. Joseph Carper, a minister of prominence and distinction in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his boyhood was sub- ject to the vicissitudes of the itinerary. He attended the public schools and . was for a short time a student in Ohio University at Athens before reach- ing the age of eighteen years. In November, 1844, he entered Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, and upon completion of its classical course was gradu- ated with honors in 1848. His attachment for the institution formed while a student continued and strengthened after he emerged from the student life within its halls to the broader arena in which he became such a conspicuous figure and recognized force. He served on its board of trustees, and during the later years was the adviser and counsellor of the board. Having decided to enter the profession of law, he enjoyed the exceptional advantages of study- ing its text-books under those great masters, Thomas Ewing and Hocking Hunter, at Lancaster. He was instructed in the principles of the law by these most eminent teachers, and his aspirations were quickened by the inspiration of their nobility and their professional achievements. Mr. Carper was pos- sessed of a brilliant intellect and cultivated the habit of close application to his books ; and yet for some time after his admission to the Bar, which was in 1850, at Lancaster, he hesitated to take up the practice. Modestly measuring himself by the colossal stature of his preceptors, and comparing his rudi- mental knowledge with their profound learning and comprehensive acquire- ments gathered during nearly forty years at the Bar, he was inclined to undervalue himself and his resources. Quietly he fortified himself and gradually he gained the self-confidence which enabled him to publicly announce his readiness to meet clients. He settled in Delaware and commenced the practice with Honorable J. R. Hubble, then a leading member of the Dela- ware Bar. At the end of three years this partnership was dissolved and another was formed with T. C. Jones, which lasted until the latter was elected to the Bench. Both of these partners passed over to the unknown before him. In 1862 he became associated with Honorable J. D. Van Deman in a partnership which was maintained for twenty-seven years with great and growing success, and was dissolved in 1889. By that time Mr. Carper had gained a high place in the profession and built for himself a home, position and sufficient wealth not to be dependent upon the fees of practice. He gradu-
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Hamlecupen
This engraving was made from a photograph taken about 1870.
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ally retired from the forum and declined to accept new business, yielding only to the importunities of old clients who clung to him and insisted upon his legal services when they needed a counsellor or had important litigation. One of these old clients was the C. C. C. & St. L. Railroad Company, which under various names he had served as counsel more than forty years. Mr. Carper was one of that noble minority of lawyers who find the profession all-satis- fying. All of his aspirations toward honor and fame were gratified in the boundless possibilities of the law. He sought no political office. The glitter and tinsel of public life never tempted him. Through nearly half a century he held on courageously to the course which he marked out in youth, and thus was enabled to attain a position of eminence, above the scandal and calumny which often bring disquietude into the life and home of the politician. When a young lawyer he served two terms as prosecuting attorney of his county, but declined judicial honors offered by his party in a nomination for Common Pleas judge. He was a member of the Republican party, whose clear vision and high character gave him wide influence as an adviser. Mr. Carper pos- sessed much original power of intellect. He was a thinker, as well as a reader. His mind was both analytical and synthetical. He could separate and classify the elements of a case at law and discover the principle upon which it was grounded. Or he was able to construct a symmetrical argument from a known element. In his practice he regarded principles of more importance than statutes. He sought the basis of truth on which to construct his fabric of facts, and the basis of principle on which to construct his theory of the law. He was thoroughly informed in his cases and carried on his contentions with conscientious pertinacity. He reasoned well, as a logician whose mind is thoroughly honest. He was a good man, who studied the sacred scriptures and sought to fashion his life after the pattern of the Divine Teacher and the Sermon on the Mount. He possessed social qualities which drew abont him a circle of admirers who delighted in his conversation. His humor was pure, his wit sparkling, his repartee bright and his satire free from malice or any- thing that could offend. He enjoyed his home, which the wife of his youth, Miss Catherine Welch, of Delaware, to whom he was married in 1849, assisted in making bright and cheerful. The children of this union are Joseph E. Carper, Carrie Carper Mills, of Boston, and George T. Carper, all of whom with their mother survive. Mr. Carper died suddenly and his death occasioned a shock in the community. The Bar in which he had so long been prominent adopted a memorial prepared by Honorable E. F. Poppleton, Judge C. HI. McElroy, Honorable F. M. Marriott and Honorable J. D. Van Deman, and the same was spread upon the court records, as an inspiration to high living and noble aims in the profession.
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DUNCAN DOW, Bellefontaine. Honorable Duncan Dow, judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Logan and Union counties, was born in Logan county, Ohio, March 13, 1843. His ancestors were Scotch Presbyterians. His father, Robert Dow, was a native of Scotland, came to Ohio when only ten years old, settled in Logan county, where he grew to manhood and became a useful citi- zen ; entered the military service of the government as captain of Company D, Forty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served during the Rebellion. Duncan Dow attended the common schools of his native town- ship, passed through the high school of Bellefontaine and attended Geneva College as a student for one term. After this he took a course of instruction in Eastman's celebrated business college at Poughkeepsie, New York. In this way he qualified himself as a book-keeper with the purpose of engaging in commercial business. Soon after returning from Poughkeepsie, however, he entered the office of the county auditor as deputy and subsequently became deputy clerk of the county. He had not up to this time formed the purpose of entering a profession, but while employed in the county clerk's office was persuaded to take up the study of law as an incident of his clerical work. The opportunity afforded to study the practical part of the profession while keep- ing the minutes of court served as an incentive to study the text-books. He read Blackstone under the instruction of J. B. Mclaughlin, a prominent prac- titioner at the Logan Bar. All of the necessary preliminary reading was pur- sued under the direction of this instructor until 1867, when he entered the Cincinnati Law School, so well advanced as to complete the course and receive his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1868. He was received into partnership by Mr. Mclaughlin, his former preceptor, and immediately entered upon a pros- perous practice. For twenty-eight years the firm of Mclaughlin & Dow existed and was recognized as one of the most capable in the county. During all this time Mr. Dow was engaged in the general practice and, by the force of his will, the vigor of his intellect and the energy which he is accustomed to put into every undertaking, he rose from a very humble position to one of large influence in the profession. The partnership mentioned was dissolved only on account of Judge Dow's election to the office of judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas in the fall of 1896. He has not held a position on the Bench long enough to test in the higher courts very many of his judicial decisions, but his courtesy and bearing toward the Bar, his painstaking investigation of all ques- tions submitted, his integrity of character and deep convictions have already demonstrated both his capacity and fitness for the judicial office. Judge Dow has held other offices since his admission to the Bar. In 1869 he was elected prosecuting attorney for Logan county and was re-elected in 1872, holding the office for six years. In 1875 he was chosen to represent his county in the gen- eral assembly of Ohio, and after serving one term was re- elected. During his first term in the general assembly he was made chairman of the committee on privileges and election, one of the most important of the regular committees and doubly important during that session on account of several contests. In 1886 he was chosen to the Ohio Senate and during his term of service was a
CROSSCUP & WEST END. CO. PHILA, FA,
C. H. Mcilroy
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member of the judiciary committee. He was a very active and conservative legislator, who supported all valuable legislation introduced by others and was the author of some of the best enactments during the time he was sena- tor. Probably the best known and most frequently tested of the laws intro- duced by himself was the " Dow Liquor Law." He not only drafted this bill, but may very properly be charged with its enactment, as the strongest influ- ence brought to bear in its favor was his own personal support. Another very important bill introduced by him and enacted into law through his influence was the one requiring train bulletins to be posted in all stations of the different railroads. Judge Dow has served his fellow citizens at home as councilman, trustee of the water works and park commissioner. He is a gentleman of quiet manners, whose reserve does not at first invite familiarity ; but among his friends he is regarded a delightful companion. There is a geniality and warmth of fellowship extended to such as have been tried and found worthy of confidence and friendship. He inherited the Scotch Presbyterian religion, and has during the course of his life observed the requirements of Christianity. Since 1874 he has served as a ruling elder in the United Presbyterian Church. His familiarity with church polity and his lawyerlike qualities make him a val- uable ecclesiastic adviser. Judge Dow, although not a college graduate, is a gentleman of large intelligence, widely informed on questions of politics and public concern generally. He was married November 4, 1873, to Miss Maggie A. Gregg, and has three daughters : Laura, Ella and Florence B. The family circle is the place in which he takes greatest delight, and his home is charac- terized by the mutual love and trust of all members of the family. He is a benevolent man and his life has exhibited in a quiet way some wholesome beneficence. As a lawyer, a judge, a citizen and a man his record is clear.
CHARLES H. MCELROY, Delaware. Honorable Charles H. McElroy, ex-judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was born at Gambier, Ohio, March 19, 1830. His father, Rev. James McElroy, D. D., was a native of Ireland and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. His mother, Maria Burroughs, was also a native of Ireland, and his parents were married at Gore's Bridge, County Kilkenny, in 1828. Immediately thereafter they came to America and directly to Gambier, where Dr. McElroy assumed the duties of a profes- sorship in Kenyon College, where he remained for three years. His employ- ment was secured by the visit of Bishop Chase to England and Ireland in behalf of the college. While engaged in teaching at Kenyon Dr. McElroy also studied theology and was ordained for the ministry of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Leaving Gambier in 1831, he served as rector of Trinity Church, Cleveland, for one year and in 1832 settled in Delaware, as rector of St. Peter's Protestant Episcopal Church. He held this rectorship altogether for twenty years, the first period of eight years closing in 1840, when he removed with his family to Staunton, Virginia. For the twelve years next
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ensuing the family lived in Staunton and in Botetourt county, and then returned to Delaware, Ohio. While in . Virginia Dr. McElroy founded the Female Institute at Staunton, a school of high grade which is still flourishing. He was also for some years agent of the Virginia Bible Society. The brother and sisters of Judge McElroy removed to the Pacific coast soon after the war and were followed there by the parents. Two sisters are still living at Oakland, and the other members of the family died in California. Judge McElroy received his academic education at various places in Virginia and attended the Law School of the University of Virginia for two years, beginning in 1850, and was there two sessions of nine months each. He was examined by the judges of the Court of Appeals, and admitted to the Bar of that State at Lewisburg. He returned to Delaware, to which other members of the family had preceded him in the early part of the same year. While waiting to gain a residence he engaged in civil engineering, as applied to the construction of railroads, and continued in that work for about two years, until the suspension of railroad building as a result of the financial stringency sent nearly all engineers adrift. At the time of this suspension, in 1854, he was in charge of the construction of forty miles, being the northern division, of the Henderson and Nashville Railway, as it was then known. This diver- sion delayed his admission to the Bar of Ohio until 1855, when he settled in Delaware and at once engaged in the practice. Not long afterwards he was appointed master commissioner, and in that capacity adjudicated many cases. He established for himself an excellent reputation at the Bar and also a reputation for judicial fairness as referee in the numerous cases referred to him by the courts. When the War of the Rebellion broke out he offered his services, in August, 1861, and was mustered as a private in Company D, Twentieth Regiment, O. V. I. He very soon became captain of the company, of which he was in command at Fort Donaldson and Pittsburg Landing. In August, 1862, by request of the governor of Ohio, and order of the War Department, he was transferred to the Ninety-sixth O. V. I., with the rank of major. He was on duty at Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post and the siege and surrender of Vicksburg. His health was much broken by the exposures of the camp and field, in a climate to which he was unaccus- tomed, and he was prostrated by an attack of typhoid fever, followed by chronic diarrhoea and neuralgia. In the campaign down the Mississippi and up the Yazoo and Chickasaw Bayou he was so emaciated and broken that it seemed as if he never could rally ; but he remained on duty until after the surrender of Vicksburg, when he was mustered out on the surgeon's certificate of disability. Upon returning home he resumed the practice of law as soon as he had sufficiently recovered, although he remained an invalid for many years. His only brother, Colonel J. N. McElroy, who pre- ceded him into the service, was on the staff of General J. D. Cox, and by promotions became major of the Twentieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and lieutenant colonel of the Sixtieth Battalion, remaining in the service after the war closed as captain in the Eighth United States Cavalry. He died at San
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Francisco some years ago, leaving a widow and one son. Judge McElroy continued in the practice with increasing success until 1881, when, at the earnest solicitation of members of the Bar, personal friends and citizens gen- erally, he accepted the Republican nomination for judge of the Common Pleas Court. He was elected, although the subdivision in which he was a candidate is Democratic by a large majority. He was re-elected in 1886, serving altogether ten years and retiring from the Bench in February, 1892. While in practice at the Bar he was for a time in partnership with E. T. Pop- pleton, and at the time of his elevation to the Bench was associated with H. S. Culver. Upon retiring from the Bench he resumed the practice in a part- nership with G. W. Carpenter, which is still in force. The firm are attorneys for the C. C. C. & St. L. Railway, the Delaware Clay Manufacturing Com- pany, the Delaware County National Bank, V. T. Hills & Co., and many others. Naturally they have a great many cases in the higher courts. In 1858, October 28, Judge McElroy was married to Caroline Murray, now deceased, who was the daughter of Richard and Joan Hills Murray, and whose father had been a member of the Delaware Bar with most promising prospects ; a man who at once took high standing on account of his ability, integrity and learning in the profession, but was cut down by death at an early day, and during the infancy of this daughter. Her mother lived to the age of seventy-five years and retained to her death the highest esteem and affection of her two thousand pupils. Making her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Judge McElroy, she was always a welcome member of the family and a blessing to her children and grandchildren. Of the six children comprising the family of Judge and Mrs. McElroy four are living, three daughters and a son : Lillian E., wife of William B. Hall, of Cape Town, Africa ; Kathleen, who lives at home with her father ; Carroll M., a dentist, at Indianapolis ; and Frances H., engaged in the newspaper business. Judge McElroy is a gentleman of substantial character and exemplary life. His friendships are real, not simulated ; his democratic simplicity, openness and genuineness commend him to the people. His broad scholarship is rendered more practical and useful by his careful observation of various characteristics of men and his study of civic life, for which he had ample opportunity in his service of two terms as mayor of Delaware, with an interval of twenty years between. He was elected first in 1857 and again in 1878, on both occasions receiving a very large vote of the citizens without regard to partisanship. His capacity for affairs was evidenced during the first term by clearing up an indebtedness and changing the finances of the corporation from rather a cha- otic to a business condition. His zeal for the public good contributes to his usefulness as a citizen. His large attainments in the law, his perfectly repu- table methods in practice, his high motives and unquestioned integrity on the Bench, all combine to give him firm and honorable standing in the profession.
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