USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 53
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DANIEL BABST, JR., Crestline. Daniel Babst, Jr., was born October 19, 1847, at Canal Fulton, Stark county, Ohio. His ancestors were natives of Alsace, long a province of France. His father came to America from that country in 1832 and settled in New York. Two years later he removed to Stark county, Ohio, where he met, courted and married a lady who came also from the region over the Rhine, and who became the mother of our subject. His ancestors on both sides held important position in Alsatia. The family removed to Crestline. Crawford county, in 1852, and here Daniel received his earlier education. in the public schools. From 1864 to 1867 he was a student in Oberlin College. In the last named year, at the age of twenty. he began reading law in the office and under the instruction of Nathan Jones, at
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Crestline, with whom he remained until 1872. when he was admitted to the Bar. He began practice on his own account in 1873, and from that time to the present, except for one year, he has been engaged in a general practice alone. He served as city solicitor from 1877 to 1879, and then resigned to accept appointment to the office of mayor of the city tendered him by the common council. In 1880 and again in 1882 he was elected mayor. In 1884 he was the Republican candidate for Congress against George E. Seney, of Tiffin, but was defeated, as the Thirteenth Congressional District was a Democratic stronghold. He succeeded, however, in greatly reducing the majority of his opponent. Although he has given considerable time to the duties of public office, he has not neglected his profession, which has under all circumstances claimed his attention and his best endeavors. During the entire period of his residence at Crestline he has taken deep interest in edu- cational matters and the work of the public schools. He has served as a member of the school board and the board of examiners for twelve years. As a citizen he has manifested a lively interest in the affairs of his city and county, and actively supported such measures as promote the public welfare. His interest in politics, local and general. springs from a conviction that the principles and policies of the party to which he belongs should dominate the government. He was a member of the State executive com- mittee for two terms, and has usually represented his party in the various State conventions. In 1887 he was a candidate before the Republican State convention for nomination to the office of attorney general, but was for- tunately defeated. That was one of the years in which the Democratic party was successful in the State and he was spared inevitable defeat at the polls. He has supported strenuously the policy of free coinage of silver at the ratio of sixteen to one, believing it to be good Republican doctrine. He maintains that his own position on this question is correct and he has remained stead- fast, while the party has left him. Mr. Babst was one of the counsel for the regular Masonic body in their prolonged litigation through all the courts with the Cernean bodies, in which the regulars were successful. He is a Free Mason himself and perhaps on that account was more vitally interested in the outcome of the litigation. He is past Commander of Mansfield Commandery K. T., and is a member of Alkoran Shrine. Mr. Babst has broad and liberal views of religion and is generous in his contributions to the churches and to all chari- table objects. Ile was married October 24, 1872, with Miss Alice E. Martin, who bore him two children, Lora M. and Carl M., both of whom are living. Mrs. Babst died in 1878, and on April 20, 1882, he was married with Miss Luella Carlisle. Two children are the fruit of this marriage, namely, Clara and Guy Mannering. His eldest son, Carl, has been reading law for the past year, his education having been carefully supervised with that end in view.
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CORTLAND L. KENNAN, Norwalk. Cortland L. Kennan was born in Norwalk. December 29, 1847. His paternal lineage is Scotch, and that of his mother English. The Kennans were among the early Scotch settlers of New England. His father, Jairus Kennan, a native of Moravia, New York, who became a very eminent lawyer, removed to Ohio and settled in Norwalk in 1830. and continued to reside there until his death in 1872. His mother, Charlotte E. Gardiner, was a native of Connecticut, where her English ances- tors settled in the Eighteenth Century. She also came to Ohio about 1830. Young Kennan began his education at five years of age, in a private school, where he remained until he was eight. He then entered the Norwalk public schools, in which he passed through all the grades of the grammar and high school, graduating with first honors from the high school in 1863. He then entered the Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio (now the Western Reserve University at Cleveland), where he took the full collegiate course and graduated with the first honors of his class in 1867. Returning home, he at once began the study of law in his father's office, and in April, 1869, was admitted to the Bar. He at once entered into practice with his father, where he continued until the death of the latter in 1872. He has since practiced alone, with the exception of a short time when his two brothers were associ- ated with him. He is a lawyer of ability and has shown remarkable clearness in the preparation of pleadings. He has given much time and attention to Banking Law, and is at this time counsel for one of the largest banking insti- tutions in Northern Ohio. With all of the advantages of a finished education and a most complete legal training, he is a most charming conversationalist and a ready and fluent speaker. During the railroad riots of 1877 the citizens of Norwalk organized a vigilance committee, and this afterwards resulted in the organization of the Ohio National Guard. On August 5, 1877, Mr. Ken- nan was elected first sergeant of the Norwalk company ; on May 1, 1879, he was elected second lieutenant; on May 13, 1882, first lieutenant, and on December 1, 1885, captain. He skipped the majority, and October 10, 1889, was elected lieutenant colonel, and in April, 1893, was elected colonel, com- mander of the regiment. He was first attached to the Sixteenth Regiment of the Ohio National Guard, and afterward transferred to the old Fifteenth Reg- iment. This regiment was mustered out of the service and he was again transferred to the Sixteenth, and on May 11, 1887, was assigned to the Fifth Regiment, which he now commands. Colonel Kennan has thus had twenty years' continuous service, an honor which but few men in this State have attained. His military headquarters at the present time are at Norwalk. He is enthusiastic in this work and has greatly contributed to the placing of the Ohio National Guard upon the admirable footing it now has attained. Colo- nel Kennan is a member of the Masonic order, having received the Knight Templar degrees. In 1869 he married Eloise Case, of Norwalk, and has five ยท children, three daughters and two sons. There are now living two daughters and one son. Mrs. Kennan died March 17, 1894.
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FRANK HERBERT JONES, Norwalk. Honorable Frank H. Jones, judge of the Probate Court, was born on a farm near Deansville, Wisconsin, Septem- ber 15, 1856. His father, James Jones, was a farmer and a native of Massa- chusetts. He came first to Ohio and in 1850 removed to Wisconsin. The Joneses are of Welsh descent and came to New England in the eighteenth century, settling at Martha's Vineyard. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch was engaged in the American Revolution and was in the battle of Lexington. His mother, Sabra W. Alvord, also a native of Massachusetts, was of English descent. Her ancestors were among the early Massachusetts settlers, coming to this country about 1636. They became quite prominent in affairs and several of the family attained distinction during the country's struggle for independence. When Frank H. Jones was six years of age the family returned to Ohio, settling near Bellevue, where his education began in the public schools. Later he entered the preparatory department of the Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio, where he remained one year and afterwards entered the collegiate department. In 1881 the name of this insti- tution was changed to Adelbert College of the Western Reserve University, and the school was transferred to Cleveland, where Mr. Jones graduated with the second honors of his class, in 1882. After leaving college he was for one year superintendent of schools at Mentor, the home of Garfield. In the fall of 1883 he entered the Cincinnati Law School, and in 1885 was graduated again with the second honors of his class. The class was a large one and the grades were as high as ever attained in the college. He was at once admitted to the Bar and began practice at Sandusky in the office of Linn W. Hull, now judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1886 he removed to Norwalk, where he has since practiced alone. His practice has been general. It has largely been in the line of equity proceedings, corporation and real estate law. He has always been a close student, devoting great care to the preparation of his cases, and has shown marked ability for one so young. As an evidence of the confidence and respect entertained for him by the citizens of Huron county he was, in the fall of 1896, elected judge of the Probate Court, an honor which one of more mature years might well be proud of. He has always been a Republican and has taken quite an active interest in political matters, and has several times been a delegate to the State conventions of his party. He was for eight years a member of the board of education. In 1893 he married Charlotte W. Wickham, of Norwalk, and has two children, a son and a daugh- ter.
JAY F. LANING, Norwalk. Mr. Laning was born at New London, Ohio, on the 15th day of May, 1853. His father, John Laning, who located in Huron county, Ohio, in 1840, was a native of New Jersey. His ancestors, who were Welsh, settled at Trenton, New Jersey, some time prior to the American Revolution. His mother, Caroline Wood, was born in Putnam county, New York. She came to Ohio in 1832. His education was in the pub-
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lic schools of his native county and for a time at the Savannah Academy, and in 1872 he was for a short time in the Baldwin University. At the age of fifteen he commenced teaching school, and was engaged in that occupation for six years. During this period he devoted his spare time to the study of law. Continuing the study of law after giving up the business of teaching, he was admitted to the Bar in 1875, and at once began practice alone at New London. Afterwards he formed a copartnership with A. M. Beattie, now of the Nor- walk Bar. In 1882 he removed to Norwalk, where he practiced for a short time, when he engaged in the publishing business. He is at the head of the Laning Printing Company, which company is now publishing the Ohio Supreme Court Reports, also a series of reports called the Ohio Decision, the Ohio Legal News, and other law publications. Mr. Laning is the author of The Rudiments of Civil Government and The Rudiments of Law-both of which are text-books for use in the public schools; also a history of Ohio and a number of other publications now used in the public schools, besides a num- ber of manuals. In politics he has always been a Republican. At the present time he is serving his second term in the Ohio Senate. In 1875 he married Caroline Sheldon, of Ohio, and by this union has six children, three sons and three daughters, all living.
JOHN W. JENNER, Mansfield. Honorable John W. Jenner, for eleven years judge of the Circuit Court of Ohio, for the Fifth Circuit, is the son of Dr. A. Jenner, who represented Richland county in the legislature in 1858. Richard Jenner, of London, was the lineal ancestor of the family in America. His son settled in Connecticut about 1675. Dr. Samuel Jenner, great-grand- son of Richard, and great-grandfather of Judge Jenner, was born in Wood- bury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 1739. Dr. Edward Jenner, celebrated for his discovery of vaccination, was also a descendant of Richard Jenner. Dr. A. Jenner's maternal grand father, Nathan Taylor, was a private in a New Jersey regiment in the War of the Revolution. Judge Jenner's mother's grand- father, Captain John Foster, owned a plantation on Roanoke river in North Carolina, and was the commander of a coast trading vessel ; was placed in com- mission as a privateer. When the English were blockading our coast, on an occasion when Captain Foster attempted to get into Pamlico Sound, in full view of his family and friends, he was closely pursued by the blockading squad- ron and barely escaped capture. The judge's grandmother, then a small girl, was deeply impressed with this incident, and often repeated it to her grand- children. The father of Judge Jenner became a resident of Mansfield in 1834. Dr. A. Jenner was a man of integrity and purity of character, warm in his friendships, and highly respected in the community. Two sons-Dr. A. E. Jenner of Dayton, who for two terms represented the Crawford district in the Senate, and Dr. C. W. Jenner, late of Denver-followed the profession of their father ; and two sons, John W. and Samuel E., made the law their life work. Judge Jenner, after obtaining the education the common schools afforded,
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taught school several terms, attended an academy for three years, then entered the Sophomore year in the Ohio Wesleyan University, and after completing the Sophomore and Junior years, left college and taught one year in an academy in Missouri. In 1860 he and his brother S. E. Jenner commenced reading law with Honorable Thomas W. Bartley, in Mansfield, his native town, and they were both admitted to the Bar in 1863. Soon after he was admitted, Judge Jenner became a member of the firm of Bartley, Johnston & Jenner. In about a year Judge Bartley retired from the firm and moved to Cincinnati. Johnston was elected to Congress and died shortly after his term closed. S. E. Jenner, then a partner of Judge Bartley in Cincinnati, returned to Mans- field and the two brothers formed a partnership which continued until 1872, when S. E. Jenner entered into partnership with his father-in-law, Judge Bartley, in Washington City. Judge Jenner was also a partner for several years with Judge M. R. Dickey of Cleveland and with Judge Geddes. In 1864 he was appointed prosecuting attorney of Richland county, and was elected for two full terms. At the close of his second term, in 1869, he attended Harvard Law School for one year. With the experience he then had at the Bar, the year spent at Harvard was a very profitable one. That was about the time President Elliott became the guiding star of the university. Professor C. C. Langdell, whose case system has revolutionized legal instruction in the schools, had just started on his successful career. After Judge Jenner left the law school, he and his brother resumed the practice of law in Mans- field. and this continued until he was elected Circuit Judge in October, 1884, except the short time that Samuel E. was in Washington and John W. was on the Common Pleas Bench. The judge was for twelve years president of the board of education of Mansfield, and has always taken great interest in the schools of the city. October 5, 1895, he resigned the office of Circuit Judge to resume the practice of law, with S. E. Jenner and William McE. Weldon. Judge Jenner seems blessed with a mind and temperament that eminently fit him for judicial duties. His thorough preparation and large experience at the Bar made the labor pleasant for him. He possessed patience, industry, a comprehensive intellect, quick perception to see the true point involved in a controversy, however concealed beneath a mass of immaterial facts, and with an integrity of purpose that won the confidence of both the Bar and litigants He does not hesitate to express the highest gratification at the expressions of high commendation he has received from many sources as to his services on the Bench ; but he says his friends are too extravagant in their compliments. We may give what occurred in the court room on the last day the judge was on the Bench in Fairfield county, a county that has become noted for being once the home of a Ewing, a Stanbery, a Sherman, a Hunter, a Brazee and many other illustrious lawyers. Judge Martin, who once adorned the Supreme Bench of our State, on behalf of the Lancaster Bar, in presenting resolutions as to Judge Jenner and his services on the Bench, used this language :
"I feel that if words served me, I would like to add something to this sincere testimonial of the Bar. Man and boy or boy and man, I have been an
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intimate observer and somewhat of a participant in the legal controversies of this county and section of the State. I have seen many brilliant lawyers and able men upon the Bench, but I truly bear from the depths of my heart the voluntary testimonial here to-day, that Judge Jenner ranks inferior to none, and to say the least, the peer of the best. Now in a few days to retire from the Bench, prompted by circumstances eminently proper, he will go into that higher realm of our legal profession, where pecuniary rewards and fame will, undoubtedly, be liberal and long to him."
In 1868 Judge Jenner married Emma A. Mack, only daughter of Dr. John Mack, a senator from the counties of Richland and Ashland, in 1853. Her grandfather, Harry Ayres, married Jane Hoy, whose family was of Scotch origin. The courage and spirit of the soldier predominated in the family. They trace their lineage to William Hoy, who fought by the side of Argyle, on Flodden field, in 1513. Three brothers, descendants of that Will- iam Hoy, came to America in 1756. One of them, Peter, was a soldier of the Revolution. William, the father of Mrs. Jane Ayres, was Captain of a com- pany in the War of 1812. The mother of Adam Poe, whose fight with the Indian chief, Big-foot, on the banks of the Ohio, in 1782, all school boys delight to read, was a daughter of one of these Hoy brothers. Judge and Mrs. Jenner have five children, two married: Mary Jenner Wagner of Mansfield ; Florence Jenner Dann of Columbus, and Grace, Gertrude and Jack.
CHRISTOPHER P. WOLCOTTE, Akron. One of the able lawyers and extraordinary men of Ohio, who would not be old if still living, was Honor- able Christopher Parsons Wolcotte. He was born at Wolcottville, Connect- icut, December 17, 1820, and died at his home in Akron, April 4, 1863. At thirteen he came west with his parents, who settled in Steubenville. He aspired to excellence and the best things available in life. As a boy he was studious, energetic, hopeful, ambitious. His time was well employed. He entered Jefferson College at Washington, Pennsylvania, and was graduated in 1840, while yet under twenty years of age. Upon returning to his home he began the study of law in the office of Tappam & Stanton, at Steubenville, where he remained for three years. He was admitted to the Bar in 1843, and soon after wards formed a partnership with General Lucius V. Bierce, at Ravenna, for the practice of law. He lived at Ravenna only three years, but during that short period proved himself a lawyer of ability and a man of prob- ity and high aims. In 1846 he settled in Akron, where he continued in the practice until his death on the 4th day of April, 1863. Shortly after removing to Akron he formed a partnership with Honorable W. H. Upson, which was dissolved by his death. He was appointed attorney-general of Ohio by Gov- ernor Salmon P. Chase in 1846, and won fame as a lawyer while occupying the office. It became his duty as attorney-general to prosecute the Wellington Fugitive Slave case, and he performed the duty in a masterful manner. His argument in the case was singularly strong and great. The Supreme Court of
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Ohio paid him the exceptional compliment of ordering the argument published in full as a part of the report of the case. It was the first instance of the kind, and indeed it remains the only instance of the kind, in the history of the Supreme Court. Mr. Wolcotte continued to devote his undivided attention to the practice of law until he was appointed assistant secretary of war by Pres- ident Lincoln, in May, 1862. He was assistant to the great war secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, and, like the latter, wore his life out in the public service. Early and late he toiled, sharing with his great chief all the anxiety incident to the mobilizing, equipment and command of large armies during the crisis of the Nation. Absolute confidence and the closest intimacy existed between Secretary Stanton and himself. His life was the noble sacrifice he offered upon his country's altar. He died of overwork, less than a year after assum- ing the overmastering duties of the war office. He had not reached his prime, or the full splendor of that meridian which marks the greatest successes of the most capable lawyers. He had lived long enough, however, to build for him- self a character strong in its integrity and in the elements which make true men and good lawyers ; a reputation for morality and well-doing, for the observance of private virtue and devotion to public duty-a reputation which history will not permit to die. Mr. Wolcotte was married to Pamelia Stan- ton, a sister of Honorable Edwin M. Stanton, the secretary of war. His two sons and their mother survive.
DAYTON A. DOYLE, Akron. Dayton Augustine Doyle has lived in Akron from childhood. He was born there September 27, 1856. His father, Wil- liam Barnabas Doyle, was born at Doylesburg, Pennsylvania, a town founded by his forefathers. His mother, Harriet Sage, was a native of New York and the daughter of Martin and Mary Sage, of Wheatland, in that State. He attended the public schools of Akron and was graduated from the high school in June, 1874. For the next year he was employed by Paul Brothers. civil engineers, and acquired considerable fondness for the profession of engineer- ing. He entered Buchtel College, however, and pursued a classical course, from which he was graduated in 1878, with the degree of A. B. He was dis- suaded by his father from an immature purpose to become a mathematical engineer, and induced to study law. Ilis first professional reading was in the office of Honorable J. A. Kohler, present judge of the Common Pleas Court of the district, and was continued one year. At the end of that time he entered the Cincinnati Law School and pursued the course of study, including the attendance upon lectures, to completion. He was graduated May 26, 1880, with the degree of LL. B., and soon afterwards admitted to practice in the courts of the State, by certificate of the judges of the Supreme Court, dated Columbus, May 27, 1880. Two years later, June 26, 1882, at Cleveland, he was, upon the proper motion, admitted to practice in the United States courts. While pursuing his literary and legal studies in school he improved
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the vacations by working on a farm and in his father's lumber yard. thus acquiring an industrial education at the same time. In 1885 he formed a partnership with Frederick C. Bryan, which is still continued under the style of Doyle & Bryan. The same year he was elected city solicitor and re-elected in 1887. He managed some important cases and conducted litigation of great moment to the city during his official term. He was commended by the press for his "faithful, diligent, intelligent and efficient performance of the duties of the position." In 1890 Mr. Doyle became the executor of the estate of his father, who died leaving extensive business interests as a manufacturer of lum- ber and a contractor and builder. He carried on the several departments of this unfinished business successfully, as trustee for the heirs, for two years, constructing a large number of houses and contributing his full share to the prosperity of the beautiful city of his home and his pride. During this period he was obliged to relinquish his hold upon clients and give little attention to law business. After settling the estate, however, he resumed the practice with his aforetime vigor and success. His practice is general in scope. but confined to civil cases almost entirely, as he has no fondness for the criminal courts. His general knowledge and practical experience in affairs make him a safe counsellor. He also enjoys the friendly combats with brethren of the profes- sion, which litigation always invites. His love of the law, no less than his fraternal spirit, is evidenced by membership in the Akron Law Library Asso- ciation, the Ohio State Bar Association and Summit county Bar Association. He is also associated with two benevolent orders, as a member of McPherson Lodge No. 60 K. of P., through all of whose chairs he has passed, and Nemo Lodge I. O. O. F. From 1889 until 1896 he was one of the trustees of the Buchtel College and a member of the executive committee. Politically he has been allied to the Republican party from boyhood, and for the past dozen years he has been a working member, active and prominent in its deliberations and councils. He served as secretary of the county committee during the campaign of 1883 and 1884, and chairman of the city committee in 1895 and the county committee in 1897. Mr. Doyle was married April 23, 1884, to Miss Ida M. Westfall, daughter of Japheth Westfall, of Akron. From this union five children were born, four of whom survive: Dayton A., born 1885 ; Julia May, born 1887 ; Arthur W., born 1893; and Frank, born 1895. All are bright, animated and healthy.
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