USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 54
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FRANK L. BALDWIN, Massillon. Frank L. Baldwin is the second of three children of Pomeroy and Clara A. Baldwin-the others being Miller Collins Baldwin, born 1842, died 1880; and Pomeroy Baldwin, born December 30, 1847. He was born July 19, 1846, at Massillon, and has always resided there. He is in the seventh generation of descent from Nathaniel Baldwin, who emigrated from Cholesbury, Warwickshire, England, before 1639, to Milford, Connecticut. Some of his descendants settled early in Goshen, Litchfield county, in that State. They all seem to have been imbued with the earnest
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religious sentiment of the times, and to have possessed that courage of convic- tion and of action which was such a notable characteristic of so many of the early emigrants to New England. Mr. Baldwin's grandfather, Pomeroy Baldwin, born in Goshen October 16, 1790, first visited Hudson, Ohio, in January, 1811, to look after some land that his father had bought, and, return- ing soon after to Goshen, married, on February 2, 1814, Ann Foote, of Nor- folk, Connecticut, with whom he returned to Hudson to reside in 1817. On August 31st of that year he died of a fever contracted on the journey. At this place an important settlement had been made in 1799, composed of a colony formed by David Hudson. Esq., a man of sterling integrity, high morals and excellent business capacity and executive ability. Harvey Bald- win, a brother of Pomeroy Baldwin, married Maria A., daughter of Mr. Hudson, and he and his wife became the leading factors in every important enter- prise and undertaking in the community. One of the more prominent institu- tions that owes its existence to their efforts, to a very great extent, is Western Reserve College at Hudson. Their lives were of the greatest good and highest usefulness, and on the ninetieth anniversary of her birth, in October, 1890, the citizens of Hudson gave Mrs. Baldwin a public reception in the town hall, where, with music, songs and speeches, they extolled her virtues and praised her many good deeds. March 19, 1818, Pomeroy, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Pomeroy Baldwin, was born. His mother visited her brother, Mr. Luther L. Foote, a lawyer at Massillon, and there met and on January 18, 1825, married Arvine Wales, of Massillon, a farmer of large means, prominent in public affairs, of strong anti-slavery sentiment, and a friend and contemporary of Horace Greeley, whom, with other writers and speakers, he delighted to entertain. By this union there was one child, Arvine C. Wales, who graduated at the Harvard Law School, and became prominent as a lawyer, farmer and a senator at Columbus. Mr. Baldwin's father and mother were married December 10, 1840. She was a daughter of Jacob Miller, Esq., of Massillon, one of the associate justices of Stark county, under the old judicial system of Ohio, and sister of George Miller, a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College, a man of most scholarly attainments, a member of the gen- eral assembly of Ohio in 1844, and at his death, in December, 1850, one of the able lawyers of the county. For some years before his death, March 25, 1849, Pomeroy Baldwin was a merchant, and before that he was identified with the Massillon Rolling Mill Company, a corporation that then owned large mills and stores and many lots and farms about Massillon. Mr. Baldwin's early education was obtained in the public schools of Massillon. The first two years of his college life, 1863-1865, he spent at Western Reserve College, Hudson, and entering the Junior class of Yale College in 1865, he was grad- uated there in the class of 1867. He at once began the study of law with Alexander Bierce, of Canton, and for several months was at study and legal work in the law office of Ranney & Bolton, of Cleveland. He was admitted to the Bar at Canton, April 26, 1869. Soon afterwards he opened an office at Massillon, where he began practice, and has continued in the practice there to
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the present time. In March, 1878, he formed a partnership with Mr. Anson Pease, under the name of Pease & Baldwin, which continued until Mr. Pease became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas on February 9, 1882, and was resumed February 9, 1892, when Judge Pease left the Bench, with the addi- tion of Otto E. Young, a former student of Judge Pease, under the name of Pease, Baldwin & Young. After the death of his senior partner, December 16, 1896, Mr. Baldwin continued with Mr. Young, under the name of Baldwin & Young. Mr. Baldwin has been in many of the important cases arising in the west end of the county, but his inclinations never lead him to any great extent into the trial of causes. He has worked mostly at his desk, on documents, and has had more to do with the preparation of cases for trial, with the adjustment of dif- ferences, with the settlement of estates, as trustee in some form, or as attorney, and with commercial and financial transactions. In many cases he has, at the request of the court, served as referee, more especially in matters involving long and intricate accountings. He is always deliberate in judgment, cautious and conservative, and having once formed an opinion, or outlined a course of action, he holds to it most firmly. He weighs carefully all the statements a client makes, quickly anticipates what may be said or done on the opposing side, and never advises a lawsuit until all efforts at adjustment have been made and have failed. He is consulted often in family and estate matters, where experience and integrity of judgment are desired, and knowing, and being known to, every one in the locality, it is not too much to say he commands the esteem and respect of all. He has never desired or sought political or other preferment, his unsolicited elections to the school board representing his only public service. Arvine Wales, the principal executor of Charity Rotch's will, as directed by her will, and with her means, established the Charity School of Kendal, now an institution of Massillon, with a farm of one hundred and eighty acres, and large buildings and an invested fund, and managed it while he lived, and then his son, Arvine C. Wales, so long as he lived. Mr. Baldwin has been a member of its board of trustees for the past twenty-five years, and its treasurer for the past fifteen years. His parents having been Episcopalians, he is attached to that church, though not a member. He lived with his mother, most devotedly attached to her, until she died, January 10, 1892. On June 28, 1890, he was married at Massillon to Miss Annie J. Steese, only daughter of Dr. Isaac Steese, for many years a prominent banker there. They have no children. Both before and since their marriage they have travelled a great deal, in the United States and in Europe.
JOHN W. ALBAUGH, Canton. Honorable John W. Albaugh was born on July 4, 1844, on a farm in Tuscarawas county. His ancestors on his father's side were from Germany and on his mother's side from Ireland. As early as 1720 the branch of the family from which the judge is descended settled in Maryland. The records of these days afford only a few details of the part
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taken by them in the history-making events that took place on this continent during the eighteenth century, but these details are sufficient to show that they bore their full share in the dangers and responsibilities that fell upon all who were in any way conspicuous. In the War of 1812 we find the grandfather of our subject was engaged. He was born in Frederick county, Maryland, and moved to Carroll county, Ohio, in 1805. Here, in 1807, was born the father of our subject, who married Elizabeth Walters of Virginia, and at a later date moved to Tuscarawas county, where Judge Albaugh was born. His early days were spent upon the farm; he was of a retiring disposition and much given to study. He attended the public schools, and the learning there received was supplemented by a full academical education. He read law with Jaines Patrick of New Philadelphia, and was admitted to the Bar on April 25, 1869, in the District Court of Carroll county. In October of the same year he took up his residence in New Philadelphia, and formed a law partnership with Judge J. H. Barnhill, which continued until 1873, when he was elected prose- cuting attorney for Tuscara was county. He was re-elected to the same office in 1875, serving two full terms terminating in 1877. Whilst completing his last term in this office in 1875, he formed a partnership with the Honorable J. F. Graham, which lasted until 1882. During this period he had made his associations among prominent men, who commanded the most important enterprises throughout this section, and to a great extent were interested in law cases of extreme importance. The ability of Judge Albaugh naturally led to his being employed in most of the important cases that were tried. In 1882 he left New Philadelphia and made his permanent residence in Canton. Here he formed a partnership with the honorable John C. Welty, which still continues, though it was interrupted in 1885 by the election of Mr. Albaugh as judge of the Circuit Court. This was when the Circuit Court was first established, and the law provided that upon the election of the judges the governor and secretary of state should cast lots to decide by whom the short or long term should be filled, and further, that the judge filling the short term should be the presiding judge of the court, in order that such presiding judge might at all times be the one holding the oldest commission. Judge Albaugh drew the short term and became the presiding judge of the Circuit Court. At the expiration of this term he was re-elected for the full term of six years without opposition, serving eight years in all. At this time he determined to resume the general practice of law. He felt that he had arrived at an age when if he permitted himself to remain longer upon the Bench the added years would prove detrimental to a successful resumption of general practice ; whereas now, in the prime of life, with a mind stored with legal knowledge and matured by long judicial experience, and habits of research necessarily inculcated, he felt all the energy and confidence of renewed strength and. vigor. Judge Albaugh is beyond the medium height, of somewhat slender build, of a calm, but high-strung temperament, a deep student, nervous, but with full command of himself at all times. He enters into his case with a depth and earnestness that show a thorough equipment, and a full possession of all the
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facts, and all the authorities bearing upon the matter in hand. He is essen- tially thorough in all he undertakes. Either in the preparation or in handling a case in court he is equally strong. He is a good and fluent talker, deliberate and confident in his utterances; he always commands attention, and his thoughtful and well weighed sentences are invariably effective. Upon retir- ing from the Bench of the Circuit Court he left behind him a most enviable record. His decisions were very rarely reversed by the higher courts; but far beyond this, his admirers and friends included both lawyers and litigants, and indeed all who have been brought into contact with him. He has won the confidence and regard of all; his decisions were received with a consciousness that the evidence and legal merits of the case had been thoroughly and exhaustively inquired into, and that the decision arrived at, whether for or against, had been fairly and honestly considered and attained. In politics he has always been a consistent Democrat, and up to 1885 a very active and hard worker for his party; but upon being elected to the judiciary, he felt it incumbent upon him to abandon his partisan zeal, leaving to others the active party work, and confining himself to the impartial administration of the duties of his high office. He is to-day an influential adviser in the party and one whom leaders are pleased to consult with, and whose moral support and co-operation they are always anxious to obtain. On religious matters he is unsectarian and broad in his views, an earnest supporter of all moral and philanthropic movements that are brought to his notice, and he possesses an abounding sympathy for and with everything tending to mental and moral progress. He is a lawyer of the highest attainments, a safe adviser, a wise and discreet counsellor and a man of earnest convictions ; free from all ostentation, genial and sincere in his friendships. He was married on August 16, 1866, with Miss Estella Seran of New Cumberland. They have two boys, Thurlow K., born January 29, 1868, and Alonzo Walter, born April 25, 1879.
JACOB P. FAWCETT, Canton. Mr. Fawcett was born at Boyce Station, Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, January 2, 1851. He worked on the farm until he was sixteen years of age, at which time his father died. He then removed with his mother to the town of Mount Union, Ohio, and entered the Mount Union College. Previous to this he had attended the public schools of his native State. He graduated at Mount Union College in 1871 and com- menced the reading of law with William C. Pippitt, of Alliance. He was admitted to the Bar at Ravenna April 9. 1874, and immediately entered into the general practice of law at Alliance. He continued in the practice there until 1877, when he moved to Canton, and has since practiced in that city. In 1876 he was elected mayor of Mount Union, and from 1SS2 to 1886 he was a member of the Canton City council, serving as president of that body during the last year of his membership. He was chairman of the Republican county central committee for two years, and also served for the same length
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of time on the Republican State central committee. He has always been active in politics and is a strong and earnest worker for his party. In 1896 he exerted himself to the utmost during the entire campaign, being especially prompted by the high regard for and unbounded confidence in the qualifications of their candidate for the Presidency. In 1886 Governor Foraker appointed Mr. Fawcett to the position of judge of the Probate Court of Stark county, which had become vacant by resignation of the incumbent. He was elected to succeed himself in 1887 and again 1890, each time overcoming substantial Democratic pluralities in the county. In retiring from this office in 1894 he entered upon the general practice of law in Canton, which he still continues. He is an excellent lawyer ; studious, careful and exact; a good speaker, effective with both judge and jury; while his large experience has developed in him a cautious and judicial mind and made him a singularly safe and conscientious adviser. He has achieved a good repu- tation as one who discourages litigation. He has been deeply impressed with the trouble, annoyance and even serious results of ill-considered and hasty action in rushing into court to seek redress for wrongs that very frequently arise from misunderstanding and from the want of calm, unprejudiced consideration. In such cases he invariably endeavors to bring the opposing parties into a personal interview, and by getting the statements of each of them when matters are in an early stage he naturally expects to hear the most extreme or even exaggerated statements from both sides. This enables him to arrive at a very fair conclusion of the merits of each side of the con- troversy. He exercises a remarkable influence over angry disputants ; his calm, logical and business-like manner of presenting his arguments and suggestions rarely fails to awaken a responsive chord ; while his promptness of action, firmness of decision and practical common sense compel attention to his utterances. His first effort is to reach an understanding and settlement out of court. When every effort in this direction has been exhausted, and provided he concludes to handle the case, he takes off the gloves and goes in to win, with the confidence and courage begotten of the honest conviction that he has a good case and a strong cause. Possessing a well balanced mind, educated to cautious and conservative action, equipped with legal training and experience of a high character, he is a strong lawyer and is held in high regard by both Court and Bar. In local matters he is quite prominent and active. Well considered measures for the welfare and improvement of the city are always certain of his support and assistance. He is a member of quite a number of social organizations and benevolent orders: Lodge 266 I. O. O. F .; Lilly Lodge 362 K. P .; Canton Lodge 68, B. P. O. Elks ; and he is also a member of the college fraternity of I. A. E. On February 6, 1877, he was married to Miss Jennie A., daughter of Honorable John H. Mitchell, United States senator from Oregon. The union has been blessed with four children, all of whom are living: Mattie E., Howard B., Ralph M., and John A.
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CHARLES BOOTH, Ashtabula. Charles Booth was born at Ashtabula on the 15th day of January, 1814. His father, Philo Booth, who was a native of Connecticut, and a merchant, removed with his parents to Lenox, Massachu- setts, and when he became of age removed thence to Trenton, Oneida county, New York, where he married Sophia Cooper, August 22, 1805. He after- wards engaged in the mercantile business at Rodman, Jefferson county, New York, but in the fall of 1813 started with his merchandise and household goods for Cleveland, Ohio. Since, on his arrival at Buffalo, it was impossible to secure transportation for his goods, he left the greater part of them, hired two teams to take his family and their personal effects to Cleveland by wagon, and arrived at Ashtabula on the 15th day of January, 1814. On that same day his son Charles was born, and this event influenced his determination to make his home at Ashtabula, where he resided until his death, June 27, 1852. He was a useful, enterprising citizen, and performed his part in building up the city. The Booths are descended from English stock. The first of the family in this country was Richard Booth, born at Cheshire, England, 1607. He came to America in the first half of the seventeenth century, and settled at Strat- ford, Connecticut, where he became prominent in colonial affairs. The direct line of descent from Richard is as follows: Joseph, Zachariah, Zachariah, Jr., Lemuel, Philo and Charles, the subject of this sketch. This is the American lineage. Back of Richard, founder of the American branch, the family can be traced in unbroken lineage to one of the Norman de Boothes, who came to England with William the Conqueror, in 1066. Sophia Cooper, Charles Booth's mother, was born at Huntington, Long Island, of English ancestors. The first of her family in America was John Cooper, who came in 1636, and in 1639 he was one of the twenty heads of families who formed the association which set- tled South Hampton, Long Island. The Coopers are from Buckinghamshire, England, and came across the Atlantic on the good ship Hopewell. Her father, John, was an only son, and a large landholder. Charles Booth's early education was in private schools and the Ashtabula Academy. Then he was sent to the academy at Austinburg, and from there to Hamilton College, Clin- ton, New York, where he remained one year. Returning to Ashtabula, he at once began the study of law, but later gave it up and went into the mercantile business with his father ; but in 1840 he resumed the study of law in the office of O. H. Fitch. In 1842 he was admitted to the Bar, and at once commenced practice in partnership with Laban S. Sherman. After continuing in business about three years, the firm was dissolved. He afterwards practiced alone until his death, on the 27th of May, 1897. Mr. Booth had a host of friends. He was a gentleman of the old school. Though not a great trial lawyer, as a counsellor he was par excellence. In giving an opinion he did not rely upon the decision of cases in the higher courts, but after hearing all the facts and making a thor- ough analysis of the evidence, he would base his conclusions upon the funda- mental principles of the law. He was seldom, if ever, wrong. Such was his reputation as a counsellor that lawyers would come from afar to consult with him on important legal questions that might come up in their practice. He
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gave much time to the study of languages and the classics, and was a man of general knowledge and information outside of his profession. Politically Mr. Booth was an old line Whig, afterwards a Republican, and in the latter years of his life a Democrat. He was twice mayor of Ashtabula. He never mar- ried. Mr. Booth's nephew, Charles D. Booth, of Ashtabula, is now a law stu- dent at Harvard University, Cambridge.
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WILLIAM R. WARNOCK, Urbana. Judge Warnock is a prominent mem- ber of the Champaign county Bar. He is a citizen of the county by birth and continuous residence. He was born in Urbana, August 29, 1838, in the same house in which his mother was born, on the 8th day of January, 1814. His father, David Warnock, was of English descent, though born in Ireland, and his mother, Sarah A. Hitt, was of German extraction. Judge Warnock comes of a race of celebrated divines. His paternal great-grandfather was a rector in the established church of England, his grandfather removed to County Monaghan, Ireland, and became an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and it was there that David, Judge Warnock's father, was born. At the age of eighteen the latter came to America, about 1827, and located in Ohio. Seven years later he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church and was connected with the Ohio and Cincinnati conferences until his death, in 1882, a period of nearly fifty years. The American branch of the Hitt family was founded in Farquhar county, Virginia, in 1730, and its numerous descendants have attained prominence in many States. Congressman Hitt, of Illinois, is a native of Champaign county, and a first cousin of Judge Warnock's mother. Her father, Rev. Samuel Hitt, came to Ohio in 1810 and two years later settled on a farm now inside the limits of Urbana, where she was born and where she still resides. Judge Warnock's early education was obtained in the public schools of Urbana, and he improved his opportunities so well that when he left them he was fitted to teach, and in this way, and by other employment, earned the money with which to equip himself with a collegiate education. He entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, and was graduated with the class of 1861. He began his legal studies in the office of Judge Icha- bod Corwin, but after a few months abandoned them for service in the Union army. He recruited a company and was commissioned captain in July, 1862, and assigned to the Ninety-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was twice pro- moted for gallant and meritorious conduct, first as major and then as lieuten- ant colonel of his regiment. He was slightly wounded in the right ear in one action, and in another had a horse killed under him while making a charge on a Confederate battery. He served three years and two months and in that time was only absent from his regiment once, when he came home on a twenty- day furlough, while his regiment was in camp. He took part in every battle, skirmish or march in which his regiment participated during the war. He was mustered out in August, 1865. Returning to Urbana, he resumed his law
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H.R. Warnock
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studies with Judge Corwin, and in May, 1866, was admitted to the Bar and at once began practice at Urbana in connection with George M. Eichelberger. This partnership continued until 1879, when Mr. Warnock was elected to the Bench of the Court of Common Pleas, of Champaign county. He held the office of prosecuting attorney from 1868 to 1872. In 1875 he was elected to represent his district in the State Senate and served for the years 1876 and 1877. He was an active member of that body and took prominent part in shaping the legislation of those two years. He was a member of two of the most important committees-judiciary and corporations. . When Governor Hayes was about to leave Columbus for Washington to be inaugurated as Pres- ident of the United States, the general assembly of Ohio tendered the Presi- dent-elect a reception, and Mr. Warnock was unanimously accorded the honor of making the farewell address in behalf of the Senate. Judge Warnock's career on the Bench was eminently satisfactory both to the Bar and all others interested. His decisions were marked by impartiality and close adherence to principles of the law governing the case. He was very rarely reversed by the higher courts. At the end of his second term he declined a renomination and again resumed the practice of law with Mr. Eichelberger, and has continued in the same relation to the present time. He is the attorney for the C. C. C. and St. L. Railway and Ohio, Southern Railway, and is one of the most influ- ential and able attorneys in the county. His standing is best represented in the language of one of his colleagues at the Bar, who has known him intimately from his boyhood : .
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