USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 14
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JOHN HUTCHINS, deceased, late of Cleveland. John Hutchins was born in Vienna, Trumbull county, Ohio, July 25, 1812. His father, Samuel Hutch- ins, and his mother, whose maiden name was Flower, were natives of Connect- icut and among the earliest settlers in the Western Reserve. Samuel Hutchins came to Ohio first in 1798, and in 1800 drove an ox team from Con- necticut to Vienna, where he settled and reared his family of three sons and four daughters. John, the subject of this sketch, was the fourth child. He was educated in the common schools of the county until about twenty years of age, when he continued his studies with a private tutor and subsequently entered the preparatory department of the Western Reserve College. He commenced the study of law at Warren, Ohio, in 1835, in the office of David Tod, afterwards well known as one of Ohio's ablest governors, and was admit- ted to the Bar in the fall of 1838, at New Lisbon. After practicing a year he was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Trumbull county, in which capacity he served five years. He then resigned and entered the law firm of Tod & Hoffman, which firm became Tod, Hoffman & Hutchins. Afterwards he formed a partnership with J. D. Cox, since governor of the State and member of a President's cabinet, and was his partner at the breaking out of the rebellion. In 1868 he moved to Cleveland and formed a partner- ship with J. E. and G. L. Ingersoll, under the firm name of Hutchins & Inger- soll. Subsequently he became associated with his son, John C. Hutchins, and O. J. Campbell, as Hutchins & Campbell. Later the firm became Jolin & J. C. Hutchins. In 1849-50 he was a member of the State legislature. It was this legislature which provided for the Constitutional convention of 1851. In
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the year 1858 he was elected a representative in the Thirty-sixth Congress, as the successor of Joshua R. Giddings, and two years afterwards he was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the same district. The territory of the district was then changed, and from the new district James A. Garfield was chosen to succeed him. In Congress Mr. Hutchins took an active part in the adoption of advanced measures for the prosecution of the war to suppress the rebellion and abolish slavery, and favored the employment of colored soldiers. He advocated and voted for the abolition of slavery in the District of Colum- bia, and indeed had espoused the anti-slavery cause as early as the year 1833, and continued an active worker until slavery was abolished. He belonged to the old Liberty party and was mobbed in Trumbull, his native county, for declaring his convictions on the subject of slavery. In an anti-slavery meeting at Hudson, Ohio, about the year 1841, in criticising what he regarded as the pro-slavery attitude of the Western Reserve College, he used language which was distasteful to the faculty and students and was hissed by the latter. In giving the history of the anti-slavery movement in the Western Reserve and the active support of the cause by President Stover and Professors Beriah Green and G. E. Wright, Jr., when connected with the college, he said : "Then, an anti-slavery light blazed from College Hill, but where is that light now?" The hissing which greeted this utterance continued for 'several min- utes, but was finally drowned in cheers. The following remarks of Mr. Hutch- ins in the Thirty-seventh Congress on the subject of employing colored troops to put down the rebellion are quoted from the American Cyclopedia : "If we can take for soldiers minor apprentices and minor sons, we have the same right to take slaves ; for they are either persons or property. If they are per- sons we are entitled to their services to save the government, and the fact that they are not citizens does not change the right of the government to their services as subjects, unless they owe allegiance to a foreign government. If colored persons are property we can certainly use that property to put down the rebellion." In Congress he took up the subject of postal reform, intro- duced a bill and made an able and carefully prepared speech in its favor, in which he advocated a reduction of postage on letters, and a uniform rate for all distances, as well as a uniformity in the rate of postage on printed matter, and in addition especially urged the advantages of the carrier delivery system. These measures, in the advocacy of which he was the pioneer, have since been substantially adopted by the government. Mr. Hutchins received special mention from the postmaster general for his able and persistent efforts to improve the service. As a lawyer Mr. Hutchins occupied a high rank. He was greatly esteemed by the members of the Bar, for the integrity and ability with which he discharged the duties devolving upon him. After the war he was elected (one of three) a member of the Loyal Legion of the third class of the Ohio Commandery, an honor conferred upon civilians for distinguished service rendered their country during the rebellion. He was a member of the Early Settlers' Association, always taking an active interest in the work. The wel- fare of this association was one of his great pleasures in his declining years.
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At the time of his death he was vice-president of the association. He mar- ried Rhoda M. Andrews, and by this union he had five children, three sons and two daughters. It is in accordance with the fitness of things that his son, Judge John C. Hutchins, should to-day be the postmaster of Cleveland, and it is natural as well as commendable that the son should take great pride and active interest in carrying out and perfecting postal reforms inaugurated by his father. . Another son, Horace A. Hutchins, of New York, is associated with Payne, Rockefeller and Flagler in the Standard Oil Company. He was one of the founders of that great enterprise. The later years of Mr. Hutchins' life were spent in the quiet, dignified practice of his profession, always attentive to his work, and when not able, owing to increasing age, to take that active interest for which he was once noted, he would always be on hand to advise with and direct the younger heads who might be associated with him. He died in 1891, in his eightieth year, with the good opinion of honest men, and the reputation of a friend of freedom and humanity. As a statesman he looked into the future and was guided by principles that endure.
JOHN C. HUTCHINS, Cleveland. J. C. Hutchins, postmaster of Cleveland, was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, May 8, 1840. His parents were John Hutchins and Rhoda M. Andrews, both of whom were of English descent, although born, bred and married in Ohio. His paternal ancestors were among the earlier settlers of Connecticut, and his grandfather came to Ohio before the close of the last century. His father, John Hutchins, whose biography appears elsewhere in this volume, was an eminent lawyer and statesman, who probably contributed as much as any other Ohio man toward shaping the destinies of the nation about the beginning of the Rebellion. As a boy John C. Hutchins attended the district schools, afterward the high school at Warren, and later entered Oberlin College; but left college in 1861, when in his Junior year, to enter the Second Ohio Cavalry. He was at once made second lieutenant, and shortly promoted to first, and acting captain. His regiment was ordered to Fort Scott, and was engaged in the hardest of the work on the frontier. In 1863 he met with an accident; was thrown from his horse, breaking his shoulder, and was compelled to resign. In 1864, having partially recovered, he entered his father's office and commenced the study of law. Later he entered the office of Judge Day, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio. In 1865 he became a student of the law school at Albany, New York, taking his degree of LL. B. in 1866. He was immediately admitted to practice by the New York Court of Appeals. The same year, upon his return to Ohio, he was admitted to the Bar at Canfield, commencing the practice of his profession at Youngstown in partnership with General Saunderson. Returning to Cleveland in 1868, he formed a partnership with his father and Judge Ingersoll, under the firm name of Hutchins & Ingersoll. Four years later lie and his father withdrew and formed the firm of John &
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J. C. Hutchins. In 1877 he was elected prosecuting attorney, serving one term of two years ; again in 1879 he took up the general practice under the firm name of Hutchins, Campbell & Johnson. In 1883 he was elected judge of the Municipal Court, serving four years. At the end of his official term he again resumed general practice, but this time alone. In 1892 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas, but resigned in 1895 to accept the postmaster- ship of Cleveland. The President, Mr. Cleveland, being a personal friend, and knowing the ability of Judge Hutchins, and no doubt mindful of the fact that his father had been so largely instrumental in bringing about the great postal reforms, tendered him the place, which was accepted after careful and serious consideration. Judge Hutchins has already justified the confidence bestowed, demonstrating the wisdom of the President's selection. While in the law his practice was of a general character ; he excelled in the trial of cases more than in any other branch. He was engaged in many important cases, among which three of the most noted are briefly mentioned : McGill vs. The State, 34 Ohio, 228. This was a murder or capital case, which went up from Cuyahoga county Common Pleas Court, and is chiefly notable in that the court reversed the finding of the lower court and granted a new trial for an error that was not discovered by any body connected with the case until after the verdict was rendered. The finding of the Supreme Court was by a divided court, and the opinion of the court as well as the dissenting opinions are very exhaustive and able, covering forty-six pages of the report. The finding of the court as given is as follows: 1. Where, in a capital case, a person not summoned as a juror personates one who was returned in the venire, sits at the trial and joins in a verdict of guilty, the verdict will be set aside and a new trial granted, it appearing that neither the accused nor his counsel was guilty of laches. (He was prosecuting attorney in this case, which is the longest pub- lished in Ohio reports.) Railroad company vs. Hutchins, Guardian, 37 Ohio State, 282. This is an important and leading case, in measure of damages, etc. The court decides : 1. A petition by a guardian alleged that his wards were owners in fee simple of a certain woodland, that the timber thereon was cut down and removed by a person unknown and without any authority whatever, and that the same was taken, used and possessed for its own use, and without any authority whatever, by a certain railroad company, which company was after- wards consolidated with another railroad company, etc. Held that on demur- rer the petition stated sufficient facts to constitute a cause of action. 2. Where discretionary power to sell lands is given by will to the executor such discretion cannot be delegated. But where an attorney in fact of such execu- tor assumes to make such sale, the subsequent receipt of the purchase money by the executor is an adoption and ratification of the sale, and is equivalent to the exercise of the discretion by the executor himself. 3. A judgment determines the rights of the parties according to the facts stated in the pleadings ; and if, after issue is joined, a change takes place in the rights of the parties it must be shown by supplemental pleadings ; otherwise it should be disregarded. 4. An action for the conversion of chattels, against an inno-
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cent purchaser, from a person who had previously converted the property to his own use and had afterwards added to its value by his own labor, the measure of the damages is the value of the chattels when first taken from the owner, whether the first taker was a willful or an involuntary tress- passer .- L. S. & M. S. R. R. Co. vs. Hutchins, 32 Ohio St., 571, approved. (He was of counsel for defendant in this case.) The case of Talcott vs. Henderson, Assignee, et al., 31 Ohio State, 162. This is a leading case on the question as to what constitutes fraud in the purchase of goods on credit. The doctrine as laid down by the Supreme Court is as follows : 1. A contract for the purchase of goods on credit, made with intent on the part of the purchaser not to pay for them. is fraudulent ; and if the purchaser has no reasonable expectation of being able to pay it is equivalent to an intention not to pay. 2. But when the pur- chaser intends to pay and has reasonable expectation of being able to do so, the contract is not fraudulent, although the purchaser knows himself to be insol- vent and does not disclose it to the vendor, who is ignorant of the fact. (He was attorney for the plaintiff in this action.) Judge Hutchins is a most com- panionable man, a great student of general literature and history. He has a most retentive memory and possesses that delightful faculty of applying his knowledge at the proper time and place. He has a host of friends and admirers, has always been faithful and just in the discharge of every duty as a judge, clear and forcible in his opinions ; always impartial, knowing neither friend nor foe while on the Bench. He is a man of fine presence, a fluent speaker who is much sought on public occasions where an address is required. He can be counted upon to deliver it in an able and pleasing manner. For twelve years he has been a member of the library board, and for six years its president. In the issue of books the public library is the third largest in the United States. He is a member of the Loyal Legion. In politics he is a Democrat. In 1862 Judge Hutchins was married to Jennie M. Campbell, of Scotch ancestry, a native of New York ; has five children, three boys and two girls. His eldest son is now the assistant postmaster.
RICHARD C. PARSONS, Cleveland. Richard Chappell Parsons was born at New London, Connecticut, October 10, 1826. His family was among the earliest and most distinguished in New England. Four of his direct ancestors were graduates of Harvard and preached the Gospel in Massachus- etts. His grandfather, Rev. David Parsons, D. D., of Amherst, Massachus- etts, married a niece of William Williams, of Connecticut, one of the signers of the Declaration. He was also a cousin of Jonathan Edwards. Mr. Par- sons received a liberal education and went to Norwalk, Ohio, in 1845, where he became a student at law. He was admitted to practice in 1851, and the same year entered into partnership with Honorable R. P. Spaulding, at Cleve- land, under the firm name of Spaulding & Parsons. The firm became widely known as among the foremost in the State. Mr. Parsons was elected a mem-
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ber of the city council in 1852, and in 1853 president of that body. In 1857 he was elected to the legislature, and re-elected in 1859. This last legislature was the first Republican legislature known in Ohio, and Mr. Parsons was chosen speaker. In 1861 he was offered the mission to Chile by Mr. Lincoln, but declined the offer, accepting the position of consul at Rio de Janeiro. He resigned in 1862 and was appointed by President Lincoln collector of internal revenue at Cleveland. In 1866 he was made marshal of the Supreme Court of the United States and served six years. In 1872 he was offered by President Grant the governorship of Montana, or the place of assistant secretary of the treasury, both of which places he declined. He was elected to Congress in 1873. Few men have lived more useful and active lives. In the city council he was the urgent friend of education and was one of the chief originators of the high school. He was chairman of the committee locating the reservoir for the water works, and drafted personally the report which was adopted. In the legislature he was the champion of the repeal of the ten per cent inter- est law in Ohio, drafted the report organizing the Ohio volunteers, and carried through the legislature the first law authorizing a tax for military support. In a speech of the most moving character he denounced the passage of the bill for destroying the idiot asylum, and secured its indefinite postponement. In Congress he carried a measure providing for the building of a Harbor of Refuge at Cleveland, at a cost of $1,800,000 ; a law for a life-saving station at Cleveland, and a lease to the city of the Marine Hospital for ninety-nine years at one dollar per year. As attorney and agent of the Cleveland Vessel Own- ers' Association he is said to have succeeded in securing the building of more lighthouses, fog signals, life saving stations, and in helping to deepen more channels on the chain of lakes than any other living person. He was the principal originator of the plan for the removal of Hudson College to Cleve- land and was largely instrumental in making the effort a success. His last public service was securing from the legislature the repeal of the law author- izing the building of the city hall upon the public square, which The Leader said was one of the greatest public benefits. For nearly forty years Mr. Par- sons was a prominent leader of the Free-soil and Republican parties, and in the early struggles of the Republican party was known as one of the most elo- quent and powerful speakers on the stump. During the larger part of this period he was the mouthpiece of his fellow citizens at Cleveland upon all occasions of a public character. He is the father of the plans for improving the outer harbor with modern docks, to provide Cleveland with the simplest and noblest facilities for commerce on the lakes. For three years he contested, for the Lake Shore Railroad Company, the opening of the old river bed, and, in a series of remarkable letters in The Leader, demonstrated the superiority of docks on the outer harbor, and their advantage over any river accommoda - tions. Mr. Parsons is apparently in the active vigor of life, though seventy years of age. He is one of the trustees of the First Presbyterian Church, and also a trustee of the Western Reserve University. Many of his speeches, addresses and writings have been published in book form and read with interest.
"estero Brog! 20 09
L. D. Lincoln
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TIMOTHY D. LINCOLN, Cincinnati. Timothy Danielson Lincoln was born in Brimfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, May 11, 1815, and was the son of Dr. Asa Lincoln and Sarah (Danielson) Lincoln. He was descended on both sides from some of the most honored families of New England. His father, Dr. Lincoln, held several prominent positions in his section of the State, and was highly esteemed both as a physician and as a man of liberal and advanced views. His mother was a daughter of General Timothy Danielson, who was chairman of the Committee of Safety in Western Massachusetts, and otherwise distinguished during the Revolutionary war. General Danielson, dying when his daughter was only twelve months old, his widow, Mr. Lincoln's grandmother, became the wife of General William Eaton, who distinguished himself as commander of the land forces, acting in conjunction with the United States squadron under the command of Commodore Barron in the war against the Bey of Tripoli, in 1805. General Eaton was affectionately attached to his little step-daughter and spared neither pains nor expense in her educa- tion. She died when the subject of this sketch, her son, was fourteen years old. Mr. Lincoln's education commenced in the public schools of his native village and was completed at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. He read law for three years and a half with Honorable Charles H. Warren, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. It used to be said of nearly every man of New England that he was either teaching school, had taught school, or was about to do so. Mr. Lincoln made no exception to this rule, but took charge of one of the public schools while he prepared himself for his profession, working regu- larly sixteen hours a day. Having been admitted to the Bar at New Bedford, Massachusetts, he shortly afterwards, in the fall of 1841, started for the West, and in due time settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, in which place he had neither friends nor acquaintances. One year's study in the State being required before he could be admitted to the Ohio Bar, he remained twelve months in the office of Mr. Charles Fox, who at that time had the most extensive practice in the city, and in 1842 was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, then sitting at Zanesville. In the following year he became a partner of Mr. Fox, the firm name being Fox & Lincoln. This partnership continued until 1846, after which, until 1854, Mr. Lincoln practiced alone, rapidly acquiring increased business and a high reputation. From that time until his death on April 1, 1890, Mr. Lincoln was successively associated in partnership with Judge Fayette Smith, James Warnock, Charles H. Stephens, and John Ledyard Lincoln, his son. Mr. Lincoln's practice covered a wide range. He achieved pre-eminent distinction in admiralty, insurance and patent law, in the law of wills, of real estate and of trusts and commercial law generally. His practice was not confined to the State and Federal courts of Ohio, but frequently required his attendance upon those of neighboring States, while few mem- bers of the Bar of Cincinnati have practiced as extensively before the United States Supreme Court and Court of Claims. Among the many important cases with which Mr. Lincoln was connected may be mentioned the litigation growing out of the manner in which the piers of the railroad bridge at Rock
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Island were placed in the Mississippi River, including a suit for the abatement of the piers as an obstruction to navigation and a public nuisance. In the series of cases included in this litigation between the river and the railroad interests, Mr. Lincoln, representing the former, was opposed to Abraham Lin- .coln, afterwards President, and to Reverdy Johnson. In the case of the Lessee of Poor vs. Considine, which involved the title to 160 acres on the Western Hills adjoining the City of Cincinnati, Mr. Lincoln was opposed to Mr. Thomas Ewing, the elder. This was the last case but one Mr. Ewing argued in the Supreme Court. In the case of Barrett vs. Williamson, his opponent in the Supreme Court of the United States was Mr. John J. Crit- tenden, then United States attorney-general. Mr. Lincoln was senior counsel on behalf of the defendants in the case of Mannix vs. Purcell, growing out of the assignment of Archbishop Purcell and involving the title of all the property of the numerous Catholic congregations and of the numerous educational and charitable institutions, being more than one hundred and fifty pieces of property in all belonging to the Catholic church in Southern Ohio. Mr. Lincoln's suc- cess was due more to natural talent for the law, a thorough knowledge and just appreciation of legal principles, an untiring industry in the preparation of his cases, than to oratorical effects and forensic eloquence, though he expressed himself clearly and forcibly and with a sincerity and earnestness that carried conviction. From the commencement of his legal studies he was an industrious worker and close student. On one occasion early in his practice, after having given a client advice and received his fee therefor, he mentally questioned the soundness of the opinion given, and on searching the books in several offices he found that his opinion was erroneous and notified his client accord- ingly. This was the origin of his large law library, consisting of about nine thousand books ; for he determined that he would not pretend to a knowledge of which he was neither in the possession nor had the means of obtaining. He never sought any political or judicial office. He held the position of park commissioner of Cincinnati for a few years. During the war he was an uncompromising unionist, and though he was himself disqualified from serving in the army he furnished three substitutes. He was a generous and liberal friend to charitable and benevolent purposes and institutions. He was a great lover of books, and collected a large miscellaneous library in addition to his law library. He was very fond of travel and made seven trips to Europe. He married Miss Mary Clarke, daughter of Major Nathan Clarke of the United States army, a highly accomplished lady. Eleven children were born to them, of whom seven are living.
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JUDSON HARMON, Cleveland. Honorable Judson Harmon was born February 3, 1846, at Newton, near Cincinnati, Ohio. His paternal ancestor, John Harmon, was one of the founders of Springfield, Massachusetts, and in 1669 his sons settled at Suffield, Massachusetts: Towards the latter part of the last century David Harinon settled in Jefferson county, New York, where his son, Benjamin F. Harmon, the father of Judson, was born. The latter moved to Ohio in the year 1840, and soon afterwards married Julia Bronson, of Olean, New York, a descendant of one of the early settlers of New England, her grandfather, Enos Brooks, being an officer in the Continental Army. The names of the earlier generations of Harmons will be found enrolled in the armies of the French and Indian War, the Revolution and the War of 1812. They were all devoted puritans, strong, determined men and earnest advocates of purity of personal character, civil liberty and liberty of conscience. Benja- min F. Harmon, father of Judson, taught school and was also a Baptist minister, preaching for more than forty years to the same community. Throughout his life he was known as a man of great integrity, strong common sense and upright character. Beloved and respected by all, he died in 1893 and was carried to his tomb by his four sons. Judson Harmon was the eldest son and received his first teaching from his father, who prepared him for college ; at the age of sixteen he entered the Freshman class of Dennison Uni- versity at Granville, Ohio. In order to help provide means for carrying on his college course he taught school during vacation, and during terin time acted as tutor to a number of the other students. He graduated at the age of twenty, in 1866. Having determined at an early age to study law he directed his course of study toward that end, reading extensively the history of England and his own country as well as a number of works on the develop- ment of constitutional law. He also read with great care the works of Bun- yan, Milton and Shakespeare, and made it a point to read daily selections from the Bible. He took a high stand at college as a student and showed marked ability as a speaker and off-hand debater. At the time of the surrender of Appomatox a celebration was had in the college town, at which young Harmon was called upon to make an address for the "boys." His address displayed so much wit and eloquence that he captured the crowd, and at the conclusion of his remarks the president of the meeting said to him : " My boy, if you are not spoiled while you are young the country will hear from you." After leaving college Harmon taught school for awhile and read at the same time Blackstone and Kent. In 1867 he entered the office of Judge Hoadly in Cincinnati, where he remained until he graduated from the Cincinnati Law College, in March 1869, at which time he was admitted to the Bar. In a short time he succeeded in building up a lucrative practice in the city of Cincinnati, and had won for himself a good position at the Bar. In early life Harmon was an ardent Republican. He was a constant reader of the New York Trib- une and the Cincinnati Gazette, and became a great admirer of Horacc Greeley. When the Democratic party nominated Greeley for President, Harmon, being opposed to the extreme tariff policy of the Republican party,
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