USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 20
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"The Probate Court as an institution of government in the United States, while being the direct successor of the ancient secular county tribunals in England, known as Memorial Courts, nevertheless now exercise the same functions that the later ecclesiastical courts in England were wont to exercise. Probate and testamentary causes finally became wholly remitted to the care of ecclesiastical officers, and this impressed the service of the probate official with a peculiar character The Probate Court has always been intimately connected with the domestic and family life of the people. The dignity and responsibility of the Probate Court is well stated by Mr. Schouler in his admirable treatise on executors and administrators in the following language: ' As befits an authority which pervades the threshold and exposes to public view the chamber of mourning, probate jurisdiction in the United States is exercised with great simplicity of form, coupled with dignity and decorum.' The clientage of probate jurisdiction generally comes into the court clad in the habiliments of mourning, and all the tender sympathetic aid that can be ren- dered to the widow and orphan, while under the shadow of bereavement, is
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expected from the presiding judge. This marks the service of the probate judge at once as being of a peculiar character. He is clothed with judicial dignity, and yet must be ever open to the informal approach of widows, orphans and humble classes of the laity without ceremony. To him are confided the most delicate and profound secrets of the family history. He is required to be learned in the law, and, coupled with this qualification, he is ever called upon to exercise that weight and accuracy of judgment in business affairs with which a good solicitor or business manager is supposed to be endowed. He becomes, therefore, counseller as well as judge, and it is his ordinary experi- ence also to become a consoler and comforter of those in great distress. The successful administration, therefore, of the probate office, demands peculiar personal qualities in the judge. Honorable Daniel R. Tilden, as has been stated in this sketch, exercised the responsible functions of the probate judge- ship in Cuyahoga county for thirty-three successive years, having been elected every third year by the people of the county at large. During this period the county grew in population from about one hundred thousand to four hundred and fifty thousand. A succession of more than one generation transpired during his incumbency. . During all those years there was scarcely a family in the whole county whose interests were not in one way or another brought to the knowledge and attention of the probate judge. His court is required by law to be open for the transaction of business every day in the year, except holidays and Sundays, and it became his daily function to give counsel and advice upon every conceivable domestic concern, and to stand as the general counsellor for all the people. These habitual duties not only presupposed but cultivated certain peculiar qualities in the judge. He was required to have an intimate knowledge of the tendencies and impulses of human nature. He must exercise absolute impartiality and hold sacred the confidences confided in him. Over all he must exercise the most constant and unwearied patience. Judge Tilden was profoundly gifted in all these qualities. He was a man of very broad sympathies; he was intimately acquainted with the struggles and trials of the common people, in their domestic life, and both from experi- ence and taste exercised a very wise and abundant sympathy in everything pertaining to the rights and duties of the domestic relation. He became in fact as well as in theory the ultimate guardian of all orphans in the county. In the exercise of the peculiar functions of the probate office he became, like ancient Job, filled with a spirit of unwearied patience under all circumstances, and it may be said of him, as of Job, that, 'he was a father to the poor, and the cause which he knew not he searched out.' Patience with him was not a mere negative quality-it became a positive virtue. No emergency or sur- prisal of excitement could cause him to relax self-control or move him to abate in any degree that calm complacency and discriminating patience. The elder Pliny, the great jurisconsult, once wrote his emperor, that 'patience in the judge played no small part in the administration of justice.' This patience and self-control were not a matter of temperament with Judge Tilden ; they were the result of long years of discipline in an office in which patience is of the
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highest value in the incumbent. Judge Tilden, while endowed by nature with great powers of reasoning and discrimination, was not. under all circumstances, an arduous student. By his professional education and studies he had become thoroughly imbued with the fundamental principles of jurisprudence, and he was) perfectly familiar with all the statutory laws affecting his official action. It took an occasion or cause of unusual interest to move him to review or investigate legal learning for immediate application. Ordinarily in all the discharge of his judicial duty, he was sufficiently equipped to deal with the probate business without special effort or preparation, but, when occasion seemed to require it, he aronsed himself and applied the learning of the law with such discrimination and vigor, as to manifest to all, profound abilities as a jurist. He left very few reported cases on record during his long judicial career. The reason of this was that there never had been systematic report- ing or preservation of the numerous important causes tried in the probate courts of the State ; but some of his decisions in important cases were pub- lished in the public press and in pamphlet form, and rank with the work of our ablest judges. In another respect he was a remarkable judge. He had a most retentive memory and a masterful grasp of complicated facts when pre- sented in the trial of a case. He would listen for days to a volume of oral testimony, keeping but few notes, and attend at the same time to the constant interruptions to which the probate judge is always subjected by the current business of the office, and at the end of the trial, and after argument, analyze the evidence and marshal the facts upon the lines of soundest reason, and render a judgment in such moderate terms and kindly spirit, and with such profound good sense, as to satisfy both parties of the wisdom, justice and soundness of his decision. This was one of his peculiar and high qualifications as a jurist. The explanation of this masterful ability to open a direct way to the truth through a mass of conflicting evidence lay in his possession of pro- found common sense. He had an almost intuitive knowledge of the opera- tions of the ordinary laws which govern our common human nature. As usual in men of broad sympathies, there was ever a fountain of sweet and whole- some humor in him, which bubbled over on all proper occasions, and often mellowed the asperities of the contention before him. The two dominant characteristics of Judge Tilden as a probate magistrate were his broad and active sympathies with the struggles of the common people in their daily domestic life, and his profound and never failing common sense. In a public career of unusual length, extending over a period of more than thirty years, no man in our country ever discharged the responsible and delicate functions of a judicial office in a station immediately connected with the concerns of all classes of people with greater acceptance and favor than Honorable Daniel R. Tilden."
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EDWIN T. HAMILTON, Cleveland. Honorable E. T. Hamilton, for twenty years judge of the Court of Common Pleas, was born in Newburg (now a part of the City of Cleveland) on the 13th day of July, 1830. His father, Justus Hamilton, a farmer, was one of the first settlers of Cuyahoga county, coming to Ohio in 1801 from Massachusetts. His family had been among the first settlers of New England. He is of Scotch-Irish ancestry and his lineage is traced to the sturdy race from the North of Ireland. His mother, Salinda Brainard, was born in Connecticut. Her parents were among the early set- tlers of Northern Ohio. Miss Brainerd was a direct descendant of Daniel Brainard, who, when a lad of eight years, was brought to the United States from England, and who, in the year 1662, became the largest landholder in Haddam, Connecticut. The early days of young Hamilton, the subject of this sketch, were spent upon the farm and his first education was received in the public schools of the district. About 1848, when in his eighteenth year, he was sent to Allegheny College at Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he remained for two years, and left before graduating. Shortly afterwards he took up the study of law under the direction and in the office of Kelly, Bolton & Griswold, at that time one of the leading law firms of Cleveland. In 1854 he was admitted to the Bar. The same year he went West, locating at. Ottumwa, Iowa, and was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court of Iowa. In less than a year he returned to Cleveland and took up the practice of law. His first partnership was with Mr. Wyman, and the firm of Wyman & Hamilton continued until the summer of 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company D, Eighty-fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was sta- tioned in Maryland, doing guard duty on the south branch of the Potomac river for a period of four months, when it was disbanded. He returned to Cleveland and resumed the practice of law, under the firm name of Hamilton & Dennison. This firm continued until the summer of 1875, when he was elected judge of the Common Pleas Court for a term of five years. The nom- ination came to him unsought. In fact he knew nothing of the movement until the afternoon before the nominating convention met, when some of the leaders came and informed him that he was to be nominated. He was elected for four successive terms, having a continuous service of twenty years, and would now be serving his fifth term had he allowed himself to be again nomi- nated. Judge Hamilton is admitted to be among the ablest of the nisi prius judges that ever sat on the Bench in Cuyahoga county. He is of even tem- perament, possessing a fine legal mind ; is always cool, deliberate, considerate and firm, and a close student. In the clear interpretation of the statutes he is unexcelled. His decisions are precedents and are frequently quoted by the present judges of Cleveland. Judge Hamilton is a most lovable man. Kind, gentle and considerate, he has a host of admirers. In him the younger meni- bers of the Bar have a true and valuable friend, who is always willing and ready to assist and aid them in their work. A lawyer can possess no greater quality than this, and no virtue that could make him more respected and loved by the profession. Judge Hamilton is now associated with his son, Walter J.,
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and Halbert D. Smith, under the firm name of Hamilton, Hamilton & Smith. It is not his purpose to again engage in the active practice. His work now is more in the way of directing and counselling the younger ones, and occasion- ally engaging in the trial of important causes, when the finer questions of law are involved. He is the lecturer of the Franklin T. Backus Law School of the Western Reserve University, on the law of res adjudicata and collateral attack. In 1863 he married Miss Mary E. Jones, of Cleveland, and by this union two children were born, a son and a daughter. Mrs. Hamilton and both children are living.
JOHN F. HERRICK, Cleveland. Colonel John Frank Herrick was born at Wellington, Ohio, on the 23rd of February, 1836. His father, Ephriam Her- rick, was a farmer and a native of Massachusetts, who came to Ohio in 1830 and settled in Wellington, Lorain county. He was of English extraction. One of the family was a colonel in the American Revolution and commanded a regiment under General Stark. His mother, Chloe Wilcox, was also a native of Massachusetts. Young Herrick, when old enough, was sent to the com- mon schools of his native village, later entering the academy. In 1856 he went to Oberlin College, and spent two years in the preparatory department. In 1858 he entered upon his collegiate course and was graduated in 1862. Some three months before the college conferred upon him the degree of Bach- elor of Arts he had recruited a company of volunters for service in the Union army. This company became a part of the Eighty-seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteers, and he was in the field at the time of receiving his degree. He was captured at Harper's Ferry by General Stonewall Jackson and was at once paroled. Coming to Cleveland he commenced the study of law at the Ohio State and Union Law College, from which institution he was graduated in June, 1863. About this time he was exchanged. He at once organized another company, and in July of the same year was elected major of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry. He served with his regiment in the western army under Generals Burbridge and Stoneman ; was promoted in regular order to lieutenant-colonel and was mustered out of the service in 1865. In the fall of that year he commenced the practice of law at Cleveland in partnership with his brother, G. E. Herrick. The firm then formed continued until 1890. Col- onel Herrick has since that time engaged in a general practice alone. He is a man of high character and a lawyer of abilty, and has had much to do in the management of large estates. He is interested in educational affairs and is now a member of the board of education for East Cleveland. In politics he was a Republican until 1896, when he left the party and supported the Demo- cratic ticket for President, believing that independent bimetalism was the only remedy for the wrongs the people of this country are now enduring. He was nominated in 1897 as candidate on the Democratic ticket for State senator for Cuyahoga county. He has never held or sought office. This nomination came to him without the asking. In 1866 Colonel Herrick married Mary B. Clay,
CHARLES CANDEE BALDWIN
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a daughter of Cassius M. Clay, of Kentucky, and by the union three children were born, the eldest of whom, Clay Herrick, is now the principal of Western Reserve Academy at Hudson. He married in 1877, Flora E. Waring, of Cleveland. By this marriage there were five children, one son and four daughters, all of whom, with their mother, are living.
CHARLES C. BALDWIN, LL. D., deceased. Honorable Charles Candee Baldwin, late of Cleveland, was for ten years judge of the Eighth Circuit of the Circuit Court of Ohio. In his premature death, on February 2, 1895, not only his family and the wide circle of personal friends, but the higher interests of the City of Cleveland, of the State of Ohio, and indeed the whole country, suffered an irreparable loss. Charles Candee Baldwin was born December 2, 1834, at Middletown, Connecticut. His parents were Seymour Wesley and Mary Candee Baldwin. Early in the seventeenth century the Baldwins were a prominent family in Aylesbury, England, from which place most of them emigrated to Connecticut in 1637. Sylvester, the direct ancestor of Judge Baldwin, died, however, on shipboard before reaching his destination. Mrs. Baldwin was a bright, attractive and intelligent young woman, of a French Hugenot family early in Connecticut and descended, through her mother, from such worthies as William Pynchon, the first treasurer of the Massachusetts colony and the founder of Springfield; Captain Wadsworth, who hid the Con- necticut charter, and the famous secretary, John Allyn, of that colony. In every line the lineage of John Baldwin is purely Connecticut for two hundred years. When Charles was five months old his parents removed to Elyria, Ohio. A considerable part of the journey was made by boat on the Erie canal, at that time the most luxurious mode of travel. Judge Baldwin's father was a most energetic, successful and highly respected merchant in Elyria from 1835 to 1847. A little more than a year after reaching Elyria, Charles's mother died, leaving his brother David an infant five days old. After a time the father married a second wife, Miss Fidelia Hall, who thus came into the care of these small children. Of her Judge Baldwin wrote, that she was as gentle and con- scientious as any mother could be. In 1847 the family returned to Connecti- cut and resided for nine years in Meriden. During this period, when fourteen years of age, Charles entered a boarding school in Middletown to prepare for college. Among his companions at that time, and one with whom he main- tained pleasant associations in later life, was the distinguished historian, John Fiske. At the age of sixteen Charles entered Wesleyan University, Middle- town, graduating with honor in 1855, at the age of twenty. Among liis class- mates was Justice Brewer, now of the Supreme Court of the United States. Immediately upon graduating from college young Baldwin entered Harvard Law School, taking the degree of LL. B. in 1857. Coming to Cleveland in March of the same year he entered the law office of S. B. & F. J. Prentiss, and was admitted to practice in October, 1857. The advantage and training
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of this partnership were very great, since no one has ever occupied the Bench of Cuyahoga county who had the reputation of possessing a more accurate and logical legal mind and more learning than the senior member of this firm, who ten years later was elected to the Bench in Cleveland, and continued there until he retired some years afterwards. On being admitted to the Bar young Baldwin located first in the office where he studied, and in 1861 was admitted to equal partnership by the senior of the firm, under the name of S. B. Prentiss & Baldwin. In 1867 the firm was dissolved by the election of S. B. Prentiss to the Bench of the Common Pleas Court, and the successive partnerships became C. W. Prentiss & Baldwin, Prentiss, Baldwin & Ford, afterwards Baldwin & Ford, which latter was the style when, in 1884, Mr. Baldwin was nominated to the Circuit Bench, a position which he held at the time of his death, having been re-elected a third time shortly before that lamented event. On the 8th of September, 1862, Judge Baldwin was Married to Miss Caroline S. Prentiss, a daughter of Charles W. Prentiss, who was later one of his partners. All of the Prentisses here mentioned with whom Judge Baldwin was associated were sons of Judge Samuel Prentiss, of Vermont, who was United States Senator from 1830 to 1842. Judge Bald- win's devotion to his family and his attachment to home life were marked features in his character. Outside of his family circle he spent little time in social recreation. Of his four children, two died in early years. Of the two surviving children, Mary Candee is the wife of Dr. John P. Sawyer, Profes- sor of Medicine and Clinical Surgery in the Western Reserve Medical College, while the son, Samuel Prentiss Baldwin, is continuing the traditions of the family : Having been admitted to the Bar, he is now actively engaged in the practice of his profession. In 1892 Judge Baldwin received the degree of Doctor of Laws from his Alma Mater. Among the many who united in nominating him for this honor was David J. Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, who in his letter to the faculty of the university says: "He is a gentleman of high character and especially loved and honored in the State in which he has made his home during his active life. He has won a name, too, outside of the law, by his researches into the early history of the State, both before and since its settlement by the whites. He is eminently worthy of any honor the university can confer upon him, and certainly a host of friends will be gratified by hearing that he has received an LL. D. from his Alma Mater." Judge Baldwin's many decisions found in the Circuit Court reports attest his ability as judge and lawyer. His career was marked by rapid and signal success. His mind was such as to enable him to solve im- portant questions relating to business and finance. Corporation and bank- ing law was his special study. He was always popular with the people. In the convention of 1884 that nominated him, out of 160 votes he received 142. Though eminent as a lawyer and judge he found time for activity in various business and educational pursuits; and was a director in several banks. At one time he was trustee in two colleges and was actively connected with several other educational organizations. Among the latter the most important was
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the Western Reserve Historical Society, of which he was one of the founders, and at the time of his death president. He was favorably known by histori- cal, scientific and antiquarian societies, both in this country and Europe. He gave much time and original research to the work of the historical society. He wrote and translated a number of works, and the library and museum owe much to his judicious selections. Through his efforts a building was purchased, which is now owned by the society. The suggestion which led to the organi- zation of the society is said to have come from him. This institution will always stand as a lasting monument to his memory. In his examination of cases he was thorough and exhaustive. ITis conclusion was reached upon the facts and law involved in the case without the slightest reference to the par- ties affected by the judgment, the personality of counsel, or any outside influ- ence whatever. He deserved and commanded the respect of the entire Bar. His business judgment was much sought and relied upon, whether as bank director, trustee, lawyer or in the management of estates, in all of which he had much to do. His work was faithfully done. He never betrayed a trust or shirked a duty. Every associate who served with him on the Bench gladly gives testimony to his faithful, conscientious and efficient work. The judge was a member of the Presbyterian Church and in politics always a Republican. The Honorable Hugh J. Caldwell, now associate judge of the circuit, says of him : "He had a wealth of mind and heart that pre-eminently fitted him for his place on the Bench and endeared him greatly to all who knew him. His life was an open book. All the world could read him-nothing covered or secret. He had nothing to hide from his fellow men. No false pretense in him. His strong sense of right and justice was never overcome by passion. No friendship or influence was ever strong enough to swerve him from an honest and impartial judgment. IIe was self-reliant, industrious and thorough in his investigation of cases submitted to the court. His judgment was always based on honest purpose, a purpose so well grounded in his nature that he could not be induced to give judgment until his mind was convinced. As a man he was genial and much beloved, and honored by all who knew him. He was especially considerate of the opinions of his associates and at all times kept his mind open to conviction. He ignored self in all his work, sought criticism and always profited by it. His associates on the Bench loved him exceedingly well. They greatly mourn his loss. They will ever remember him as a true, honest and able judge and an exceedingly affable, agreeable and dear friend."
JAMES D. CLEVELAND, Cleveland. Judge Cleveland was born in Madi- son, Madison county, New York, on the 15th day of September, 1822. His father was Daniel Cleveland, a merchant, and his mother, Julia R. Gold, both of English ancestry. On his paternal side the Clevelands came from Ipswich, on the east coast of England, and settled in Woburn, Massachusetts, about 1635. The family later moved into Connecticut, and James's branch of the family
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went to New York State. There have always been men in the family who held high rank, both in the civil and military history of our country. The judge's grandfather, Erastus Cleveland, in his diary says: "When I was in Whiteston, situated on the great highway between Albany and Buffalo, Gen- eral Moses Cleveland (a cousin of my father, Moses Cleveland) of Canterbury, Connecticut, went out and surveyed the land in Ohio belonging to the Con- necticut Land Company, known as the Western Reserve, and the city of Cleve- land was named in honor of himn." The grandfather of James was a general in the War of 1812, stationed at Oswego, New York. He later represented his county for several terms in the New York legislature. Judge James D. Cleveland, the subject of this sketch, came to Cleveland in 1835 and was pre- pared for college in private schools, but was prevented from entering college by the great financial disasters of 1838. His father's failure at that time com- pelled him to turn his attention to something by which he could earn a sup- port for himself. So at the early age of seventeen he commenced teaching in the district schools. In 1839 he commenced the study of law and was admit- ted to practice in 1843. In the same year he went to New Orleans, Louisiana, and there entered the law office of Clark & Slidell, and continued the study of law with this noted firm for two years. He then returned to Cleveland and commenced the practice of law with F. W. Bingham, but got into politics in a short time and was elected clerk of all the courts, filling this office from 1852 to 1855. About this time he was also elected justice of the peace. It was much more of an honor at that time to fill the office of justice than it is now. All the great lawyers in those days, such as Foote, Andrews and Backus, tried cases before him. He was the youngest man that ever filled the office of jus- tice of the peace in Cleveland. He was managing editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 1855 to 1858, and deputy Clerk of the United States Court for nine years, from 1858 to 1867. From 1869 to 1871 he was judge of the Municipal Court. Since that time he has been in practice, always alone, never having formed any partnerships. His practice has been almost entirely confined to the administration of estates and the execution of trusts involving large landed interests. He has never been a trial lawyer. Having been a schoolmate of Leonard Case, and always a friend of the family, he was made one of the trustees for "The Case School of Applied Science," a school founded by Leonard Case, Jr., by deeds of trust to real estate worth $1,500,- 000. Judge Cleveland is now president of the board. He is also one of the trustees of the Society of Savings. No man in Cleveland stands higher than Judge Cleveland, having the respect and confidence of all who know him. He is to-day more active and energetic in his work than many who are his juniors by a score of years. In politics he has always been an uncompromising Dem- ocrat, following in the footsteps of his grandfathers on both sides, whose polit- ical faith and belief had its birth with the Jeffersonian teachings and with the party of 1796. Judge Cleveland married Charlotte J. Bingham in 1851 and by this union has three children, two sons and one daughter. The older son, a promising young lawyer, is now associated with his father in the prac- tice. Mrs Cleveland and all the children are living.
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