USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. I > Part 59
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acter in public readings. In 1860 he was one of the prime movers in the organization of "The Shakespeare Club," an organization that became very popular with literary circles in Cincinnati, continuing for more than twenty years. He was the first president of the Cincinnati Gymnasium, in which organi- zation he has ever occupied a position as foster parent, and takes great delight in its continued success; with intellectual development he firmly believes in the development of the physical man. His family are members of the Presby- terian Church, with which he has been connected for twenty years. Epito- mizing, the judge is an ideal man in his profession, in his home and in society.
PATRICK MALLON, Cincinnati. Patrick Mallon, ex-judge of the Common Pleas Court of Hamilton county, Ohio, was born in County Tyrone, North of Ireland, March 17, 1823. His parents, Bartholomew and Mary (Magurk) Mallon, were natives of North Ireland, as were their ancestors for many gen- erations. They came to this country in 1827, locating near Saratoga Springs, New York, where Patrick received his early education. At fifteen years of age he entered Washington Academy, Cambridge, New York, from which institution he was graduated in 1841. He commenced the study of law in Troy, New York, and upon coming to Cincinnati, in 1845, resumed that study in the law office of the late Judge Alphonso Taft, and was admitted to prac- tice in 1848. He immediately thereafter entered into a partnership with Judge Taft and Thomas M. Key, under the firm name of Taft, Key & Mallon, which partnership was dissolved by the withdrawal of Mr. Mallon, who then became associated with the late W. C. McDowell, under the firm name of Mallon & McDowell. This partnership was dissolved in 1857, Mr. Mallon taking a seat upon the Common Pleas Bench, to which he had been elected as Democratic nominee in the fall of 1856. In 1862 he received a renomination to the Common Pleas judgeship by his party, and was defeated, then forming a law partnership with Christian Von Seggern, with whom he was associated for six years. In 1870 he formed his present partnership association with John Coffey, the firm having since been augmented by the accession of Guy Mallon, the son of Judge Mallon, who, in 1888, became a member of the firm, which is now known as Mallon, Coffey & Mallon. Since his retirement from the Bench, Judge Mallon has been twice honored with the unsolicited nomina- tion of his party for a judgeship. but the party was defeated both times. He has never been an aspirant for political preferment, but accepted a position on the board of trustees of the Cincinnati University, of which he was a valuable member for six years. Both in his service as judge and his career as an advo- cate, the same leading characteristics were ever present. His nature was
essentially sweet, honest and pure. Upon the Bench this character was made manifest by the patient, considerate hearing given every cause. He knew no friend to favor; he had no enemy to punish. No suitor or attorney left his court feeling that his case had not been fully considered. His decisions were
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clear, because severely honest himself, and gifted with a keen insight into the motives of human action ; his conclusions were just, and with easy simplicity of language he justified his beliefs and convinced even the defeated that his judgment was right. But it was as an advocate, and more especially when facing a jury, that the combined firmness and gentleness of his character were most plainly seen and felt. His was a quiet, persuasive eloquence, which, in captivating, brought conviction so imperceptibly and naturally that his audi- tors wondered that they could have held differing views. No jury, however dull or unwilling, but felt attracted, and gave him its confidence. His address was animated and gently vigorous, his speech earnest and yet brightened by a pleasing wit, which was doubly effective and mirth-provoking because of its very sweetness. Upon occasion, however, when stung by the unfairness of opposing counsel, or a client's suffering from malicious wrong, the firm, just man would flash forth into burning sarcasm or bitter denunciation. For forty- six years he has been an honored member of the Literary Club, and for twenty- five years a member of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick. Socially, and as a club man, he was a great favorite. Some of his happiest efforts were in after- dinner speeches, where his warm fancy and Irish sentiment had full sway. Judge Mallon was married August 12, 1852, to Sophia, daughter of Thomas D. Beadle, a merchant of Washington county, New York, whose father, Michael Beadle, was a Revolutionary soldier, and rendered distinguished service in the battles of Saratoga and Bennington. Of the children born of this marriage, four survive. The eldest, Howard T. Mallon, is now engaged in business in Spokane Falls, Washington. He is married to Gertrude, daughter of Charles Sivyer, a capitalist of Milwaukee. The second child is Guy Mallon, who grad- uated from Woodward in the class of 1881; from Yale College in the class of 1885, and from the Cincinnati Law School in the class of 1888, in which year he became a member of the firm, as above mentioned. He is married to Hannah, daughter of Colonel H. M. Neil, of Columbus, Ohio, and resides at Mount Auburn. The third child is Mrs. Mary Sophia, wife of E. B. Sargent, a son of Edward Sargent, of the late book publishing firm of Sargent, Hinkle Co., which has its successor in the American Book Company. The fourth child is Neil Mallon, a student at Yale College. The judge is a resident of Auburn avenue, and a member of the Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Mallon is now deceased.
SETH WELDY, Logan. Colonel Seth Weldy was born on his father's farm in Fairfield county, September 10, 1832. His parents were Peter and Susan (Huddle) Weldy, both of Swiss descent, the former a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Rockingham county, Virginia. His father came to Fairfield county with his parents in 1806, and his mother's family came about the same time. Both his paternal and maternal ancestors came to America in colonial times, and as they belonged to a branch of the Quakers, there is no record of military service in either the Revolutionary War
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Seth Heldy
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or the War of 1812-14. Colonel Weldy was reared on a farm, and his early education was obtained in the public schools of Fairfield county. At the age of eighteen he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, continuing his studies there for three years. In 1855 he took up the study of law in the office of Colonel P. Van Trump, of Lancaster, and was admitted to the Bar June 10, 1857. Soon after he began the practice of his profession at Lan- caster, alone, which he continued until 1861. In August of that year he entered the regular army of the United States as first sergeant of company I, Second Battalion, Eighteenth Regiment. Later he was promoted to first lieutenant in the First Regiment. This position he held until the reorganiza- tion of the army in 1866. On July 28th of that year he was promoted to a captaincy in the Twenty-third Infantry, holding the position until he resigned from the service in 1869. During the Rebellion he was with his regiment in the battles of Mill Springs, Kentucky, Shiloh, siege of Corinth, battle of Iuka, the siege of Vicksburg, siege of Jackson, Mississippi, and after the fall of the latter place, went with his regiment to New Orleans, where he remained to the close of the war. In 1863 he was appointed judge advocate of the eastern district of Louisiana ; later he was appointed judge advocate of the military division of the South under General Phil. Sheridan. In 1866 he was ordered to resume command of his company in the Twenty-third Regiment, at Benicia, California. From there he was transferred to Fort Vancouver, Washington Territory, reporting to General George Crook. He was placed in command of Fort Dalles on the Columbia river, in Oregon. Later he was ordered to establish a post on Willow creek in southeastern Oregon, for the protection of the mining interests of that section and adjacent settlements against the Indi- ans. From there he was ordered to Harney Lake, to which he built a road 400 miles in length, now known as " Weldy's Cut Off" His last army service was the erection of a four company post, but he resigned before the work was fully completed. After leaving the military service he returned to Ohio and located at Logan, where he has been in the active practice of the law without intermission up to the present time. For twenty-seven years Colonel Weldy has been a conspicuous figure at the Bar of southeastern Ohio. His practice is general and extends into all the State and Federal courts. He was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States on motion of Honorable Henry Stanbery, January 25, 1867. Since he left the army Colonel Weldy has permitted nothing to interfere with his law practice. Though he is a member of the dominant party in his district, and is a man of recognized ability, possessing qualifications that fit him eminently for high official posi- tions, he is too firm in his convictions and fearless in promulgating them to become an ideal party leader. He was elected in 1883 to represent Hocking county in the State legislature and served one term, during which he was recognized as one of the most active members on the floor of the House. He introduced a measure in the first session known as the " Anti-Intimidation Bill," which had for its object the punishment of mob leaders who were guilty of destroying property or interfering with the personal liberty of property
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owners or their employees. The bill received the endorsement of the press, but as it was obnoxious to the labor unions it failed of passage. He also made a fight in the interest of the canal property of the State and succeeded in getting an appropriation of $150,000 for canal improvement. In speaking of Colonel Weldy's standing at the Bar of the district and his leading character- istics, one of the prominent members of the Hocking county Bar remarked :
"Colonel Weldy is the oldest, and I may add, the ablest attorney at the Hocking county Bar. He is a man of force, and in every position he has been placed he has maintained himself well. His army record is a good one, and the history of his practice in this county for the past twenty-five years is virtually a history of the local court. There has hardly been an important case in which he has not appeared on one side or the other. He is and always has been purely a lawyer. Though he belongs to the dominant party, he has never accepted office. He is straightforward and direct in his intercourse with his fellow men. Circumlocution or deceit finds no place in his make-up. As a lawyer he is well read, and is equally strong as a counsellor or advocate. He is one of the most successful attorneys in this judicial district, and in a wider field for the use of his talents would have become a conspicuous figure in the courts of the State. He is not so eloquent before a jury or the court as he is strong and forceful. When he presents a case to a jury they understand the bearing the evidence has on the question before them. He has an important practice in this section of Ohio, both in the State and Federal courts. He treats his clients fairly, and therefore has their confidence. Yes, you can place Colonel Weldy in the front rank of practitioners of southeastern Ohio, and the Bench and Bar of the district will sustain you in the estimate."
In his political affiliations Colonel Weldy is a Democrat. He takes a decided stand for his party, but is not, active in local political circles. He was married January 16, 1873, to Miss Maggie Thompson, of Zanesville, Ohio. They had two children, both of whom are dead. His wife died December 25, 1874.
JOHN H. YOUNG, Urbana. General John H. Young was a native of Ohio, born at Franklin, Warren county, September 13, 1813, and died November 25, 1895. His father, General Robert Young, was a native of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, who came with his parents to Ohio in 1796, and settled on a farm near Dayton. He was a lawyer by profession, but the young barrister found but a narrow field for his activity in that calling in the thinly settled country of that date. He married a Miss Mary Dodds, who was a member of an old colonial family, and whose father served in the patriot army during the Revolutionary War, and located at Lebanon, but shortly after received a government appoint- ment and removed to Franklin, in the same county. Later he engaged in mer- chandising, but through circumstances over which he had no control, lost a large quantity of his goods, which so crippled him that he was left without pecuniary resources. He returned to Franklin and resumed the practice of law. Shortly after he removed to Piqua, Ohio, where he continued the prac- tice of law until his death, October 20, 1855, at the age of seventy-one years. He was an officer in the United States army in the War of 1812, represented
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his district in the Ohio Senate for two terms, and occupied many positions of honor and trust in county and municipal government. His son, John H. Young, attended the public schools of Lebanon, Franklin and Piqua until he was fifteen years of age, when he entered a printing office, and in two years learned the "art preservative of arts." This trade not satisfying his youthful ambitions, he left the "case" to become a teacher in the public schools. With the money thus earned he entered Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, and the next four years of his life was alternated between his studies in the college class room and the labor of teaching in the public schools. In 1835 he went to Urbana and began the study of law in the office of Israel Hamilton, his brother-in-law, a prominent attorney of that time. After two years of close reading he was admitted to the Bar, and at once began the prac- tice of his profession in partnership with his preceptor. He was admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court in 1845. The diary which he kept faithfully during the earlier part of his life gives his views concerning the different professions and lines of business, and he chose the law as being, in his judgment, the best channel through which to reach his aims and ambition for something higher than the routine life of an agriculturist or tradesman. The firm continued in practice until the death of Mr. Hamilton in 1842. General Young sometime afterwards formed a partnership with John S. Leedom, which continued until 1865, when it was dissolved and he becanie associated with Colonel Frank Chance, a partnership which remained in effect until he retired from actual practice. General Young was an active practitioner at the Champaign county Bar for over fifty years, and earned for himself a repu- tation for legal ability of a high order, and attained a position as an upright and useful citizen that was as creditable to himself as it is honorable to his posterity. His practice was a general one, and extended into both the State and Federal courts. It was also large and remunerative. He was not what might be termed a great trial lawyer, though he was very strong before the court. His addresses were impressive and logical rather than brilliant in an oratorical sense. He was highly respected by both the Bench and the Bar for his legal acumen. He was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention in 1873-4, and took an important part in the proceedings. Mr. Young took a deep interest in the advancement of the young men who went to him for legal instructions preparatory to entering the profession of law. Several of his students have risen to eminence in the profession, both as lawyers and as judges, among whom may be named Honorable F. Block, on the Supreme Bench of Missouri ; Honorable John Little, attorney-general of Kansas; Louis Sceva, formerly probate judge at Atchison, Kansas; John S. Leedom, Colonel Frank Cheney, Perry Middleton, James Taylor (deceased), prominent attorneys of Urbana, Ohio. The quotation below, from one of the oldest and most con- spicuous members of the Champaign county Bar, is only a reflection of the general sentiment :
" General Young was an able lawyer and a most excellent citizen. He won the respect and admiration of the community and of his brethren in the
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profession wherever he was known. His legal ability was of a high order, though he was not as conspicuous as a trial lawyer as were some of lesser strength. He was a little slow, perhaps, in coming to a conclusion on contro- verted points, but when he did settle the matter to his own satisfaction he was immovable and almost invariably right. The one characteristic that most endeared him to the public, and incidentally brought him much of his practice, was his uniform courtesy and affable manners. There was nothing hypocrit- ical in this nor masquerading for effect ; he was one of nature's noblemen. He was one of the most successful lawyers of the Champaign county Bar, and deserves to be classed with the best."
Said another member of the Bar, a former student of General Young's :
"The professional side of General Young's life is pretty well understood in this section, but there were other sides less generally known. He has, per- haps, done more for young men entering the profession than is common with practitioners of his standing and practice. He would take hours of his time at one sitting in explaining and impressing on the mind of the learner important principles of the law. He was not only a conscientious instructor, but was also a most faithful friend and adviser of the young man beginning the prac- tice. He was successful in a business way as well as in the practice of his pro- fession. His investments were made with rare foresight, and the fortune he accumulated was as much the fruit of his business sagacity as of his legal acumen. He was unassuming in his manners and did not proclaim his charities from the house tops, but there are many who have cause to revere his memory."
In his early life General Young affiliated politically with the Whigs, but in 1836 he became convinced that the Democratic party came nearer enbody- ing the correct principles of true democracy, and being a man who governed his acts by principle, he therefore acted with that party. He was a Democrat, not a secessionist, nor a follower of Calhoun or Vallandigham. Prior to 1860 he was a general in command of State militia, and during the war was a strong supporter of the Union and took an active interest in the military organizations of the State. He was twice the nominee of his party to represent the district in Congress, but there being an adverse majority of some four thousand he was never elected to the office, though on both occasions he ran far ahead of his ticket, being particularly strong in his own county. He was a public-spirited citizen, and always ready to lend a helping hand to every enterprise that prom- ised to be of benefit to the public. IIe was instrumental in organizing the Third National Bank, one of the strongest financial institutions in the county, and was its president from its inception to 1893, when, because of the infirmi- ties of age, he declined further official connection with it. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and an active supporter of church charities, as he was in fact of everything of a charitable nature. He was married August 29, 1838, to Miss Elizabeth J. White, daughter of Joseph White, of Champaign county, whose immediate ancestors were pioneer settlers of the Miami valley. She died in 1893, at the age of seventy-four years. There are three surviving children of this union : Robert, married and residing at the family home- stead, and engaged in business in Urbana ; Frances, the wife of Colonel Frank Chase ; and Carrie, the wife of E. M. Barber, formerly of New Haven, Connecti- cut, but now residing and engaged in manufacturing business at Piqua, Ohio.
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John d. Vance
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JOHN L. VANCE, Gallipolis. John Luther Vance, lawyer-journalist, is the son of Alexander and Eliza Shepard Vance, the former a native of Shenandoah county, Virginia, the latter of Gallipolis. He was born July 19, 1839, in the town where he has always resided, and received his early education in the com- mon schools. He sprang from patriotic ancestry, in which the Scotch-Irish blood mingled with that of the cavalier. His paternal ancestors emigrated from County Tyrone, Ireland, to France, and later came to this country, settling in Winchester, Virginia, in 1735. His great-grandfather, Robert Vance, was a first lieutenant in the War of the Revolution. His mother's grandfather also served in the patriotic army of the colonies. His grand- father, John Vance, was born in Culpepper county, Virginia, before the Revolution, was married to Mary English, and removed to and settled in Ohio in 1815. His maternal grandfather, Luther Shepard, settled in Gallipolis during the territorial period, served as an officer in the War of 1812, and during part of the time was commandant of the post at Chillicothe, Ohio. His father, Alexander Vance, was a lawyer and newspaper man during the greater part of his life, and held many positions of honor and trust. He served in the Union army during the Rebellion as captain in the Fourth Regi- ment of West Virginia Volunteers, entering the service in 1861. During the spring and summer of 1862 he rendered service as provost marshal general in the Kanawha (West Virginia) district; and later, in 1863, was one of the engineers in charge of the construction of the canal at Vicksburg, Mississippi. His duties were arduous and difficult. By exposure he contracted rheumatism, which seriously affected his heart, and compelled his resignation from the army, and later on resulted in blindness and death. This introduction, tracing the genealogy of John Luther Vance, is instructive as affording some insight into his prominent characteristics. From early boyhood the subject of our sketch exhibited tenacity of purpose, and the generous traits which are attributed to the Irish. Like his father, he was educated for the law. After taking a course in the Gallia Academy he was graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in April, 1861, and on the day following reported for duty at Gallipolis as an officer on the staff of a brigadier general of militia, and as such officer, organized the first company of soldiers in Gallia county under Presi- dent Lincoln's first proclamation calling for volunteers. On the third day of June, 1861, he commenced the organization of a company for three years' service, and on the 5th of July, 1861, was mustered in as captain of the com- pany. Afterwards he was promoted to the rank of major and lieutenant colonel, successively, and finally to the command of the Fourth Regiment of West Virginia Infantry. At different times he commanded brigades ; served with the army of West Virginia, the army of the Tennessee, the army of the Cumberland, and at last with the army of the Shenandoah Valley near the birthplace of his father. He was engaged in forty-seven battles and skirmishes, including Fayetteville, Loup Creek, Charleston, the Vicksburg campaign and the siege of Vicksburg, thic siege and capture of Jackson, the campaign of Mission Ridge and battles thercof, the Lynchburg campaign in
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1864, and the battles of the Shenandoah Valley which followed in the summer and autumn of that year. He was attached at different times to the com- mands of Generals Cox, Grant, Sherman, Hunter, Crook and Sheridan. He received four wounds, one of which has occasioned and still occasions much suffering. After the war, instead of re-entering professional life and pursuing the practice of law, he engaged for a short time in transportation business on the Ohio river. This, however, was only temporary, as his taste and inclination led him into a different channel. He founded the Galli- polis Bulletin, in 1867, with which publication he has been connected as proprietor and editor continuously to the present time. He may, therefore, be characterized as a lawyer by education and profession, but a newspaper editor and business manager in practice. The control of a partisan newspaper naturally resulted in political activity, not without ambition to hold public office. In 1874 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat, in a district which was largely Republican, receiving a majority of nearly two thousand over Honorable H. S. Bundy. He also represented his district as delegate in two National Democratic conventions, and his county in nearly all State conventions since 1867. Retiring from Congress at the close of his term, he has since devoted his talent and energy to the work of editing his paper and the management of his large business interests. Since leaving Congress he has declined appointment to positions of high honor, which were tendered him. In 1889 he accepted the position of quartermaster general and com- missary general of subsistence for the State of Ohio, tendered him by Gover- nor James E. Campbell. About the same time he manifested a deep interest in the treatment of epileptics, and urged the legislature to establish an asylum or hospital for that purpose. Through his efforts mainly the necessary legis- lation was procured, and he was appointed by the governor one of three com- missioners to select a location for the institution and prepare plans for the buildings. Gallipolis was chosen for the site, and the work of construction was begun without delay. More than eight hundred patients are treated in this year of 1897, although the buildings are not yet completed. This insti- tution is the first one in the history of the world founded and supported by a State. He is one of the trustees of the Boys' Industrial School of Ohio, by appointment of the governor. Colonel Vance is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Loyal Legion. He was married October 4, 1866, to Miss Emily F. Shepard, who, on her father's side, is descended from the same ancestry as himself, and is the daughter of John C. and Marie Louise Creuzet Shepard. Her grandparents, Charles and Gene- vieve Creuzet, were natives of France who came to Gallipolis in 1817, and enjoyed the honor, respect and esteem of a large circle of friends. Four children have been born to colonel and Mrs. Vance, one of whom died in infancy. Three sons are living : Creuzet, the eldest, holds the position of emigrant inspector in New York ; John L., Jr., is National bank examiner, and Frank is superintendent of the Gallipolis and Point Pleasant Railway Com- pany, of which company his father is the president. The late Dr. Reuben A.
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