USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 24
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of making clothing, cigars, etc. In the Forty-seventh Congress he was one of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution, and also a member of the judiciary committee, on which he served during the remainder of his public life, acting in the Fifty-first Congress as chairman of that committee. His work on that committee consisted largely in examining and settling questions of law con- stantly arising, for the purpose of avoiding bad and unconstitutional legisla. tion. He was regarded by his fellow members as one of the ablest and most efficient of committeemen. Since his retirement from Congress Judge Taylor has given his entire attention to his law practice, having associated with him his son-in-law, George W. Upton, a lawyer of high standing and a citizen of excellent reputation. In 1849, Judge Taylor was married, in Ravenna, to Harriet M. Frazier and they had two children, a daughter and a son. The former is now the wife of Mr. Upton. She is highly educated and has gained quite a reputation in literature. Some of her productions have met with great success. Perhaps the best known of her writings is that devoted to the lives of the Presidents of the United States and their families, which was pub- lished by D. Lathrope, of Boston. She has throughout her life been devoted to her father, and while he was in Congress she was continuously in Washing- ton with him, where she became a pronounced favorite in society, on account of her literary tastes and ability, as well as for her amiability of char- Hacter. H. Taylor, the only son of the judge, is a representative lawyer of Youngstown, and bids fair to emulate his father, if not in political honors, at least in ability. In 1876 Judge Taylor was called to mourn the loss of his wife, the devoted mother of his children and the mistress of his home for so many years. Since that time he has found his greatest comfort and consola- tion in the society of his children. As a lawyer Judge Taylor takes a promi- nent place among the great trial lawyers of Ohio. Although his preference for civil business is very positive, like all lawyers practicing outside of the ' large cities, he has participated in many criminal trials. He has been employed in some of the most notable cases tried in northeastern Ohio. As counsel for the defense his fame extended far beyond the practice of the Bar of his section, and he has been frequently called to distant courts in important cases. He has at various times met as opponents in the forum many of the ablest and most famous lawyers of the State and has always been distinguished for his intimate acquaintance with every detail of his case, for his profound knowledge of the law and his courtesy to opposing counsel. The judge enter- tains a decided preference for the preparation of his own cases. He is pos- sessed of a keen perceptive faculty that enables him to clear away all the immaterial matters and see the strong points of a case, upon which he concen- trates his strength. Since the founding of the Republican party he has been one of its earnest and efficient members. He has rendered valuable services in many hard fought campaigns. He is cool and sagacious in council, a forcible and eloquent speaker. The strength and purity of his diction, his skill and force in the presentation of facts and arguments render him a most powerful advocate and lend dignity and strength, so that his addresses are alike effect- ive upon a jury or the public.
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HARVEY MUSSER, Akron. Mr. Musser was born at Millheim, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1858. His father, Phillip T. Musser, was an eminent physician, and was greatly respected by his large circle of acquaintances in the section of his native State where he resided and practiced his profession for so many years. The father was of Swiss-French ancestry. His mother, Mary J. Mumbauer, was a native of Bucks county, Pennsylvania, of German ancestors, who were among the earliest settlers of the State. Mr. Musser's early educa- tion was obtained in the public schools of his native State, and he was pre- pared for college at the Aaronsburg Academy and Missionary Institute. In 1875 he entered Franklin and Marshall College at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was graduated in June, 1879. He then taught school at Aaronsburg for one year, and it was during this time he commenced the study of law under the direction of the Honorable A. O. Furst, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Mr. Furst afterwards became judge of the Court of Common Pleas. In the fall of 1880 Mr. Musser entered the law department of the University of Michigan, and received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in April, 1882. He was admitted to the Bar of Michigan, and at once went to Akron, Ohio, where he was admitted to practice. He was alone for the first two years. His first part- nership was with the late R. W. Sadler, under the firm name of Sadler & Musser. They continued in business together for about one and a half years, until the expiration of the Honorable J. A. Kohler's term as attorney-general of Ohio, when the firm of Kohler & Musser was formed. This firm continued until January, 1895, when Mr. G. C. Kohler was taken into partnership. The firm then became Kohler, Musser & Kohler. In the fall of that year Mr. J. A. Kohler, having been elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for a term of five years, beginning in May, 1896, retired, and the firm has since con- tinued as Musser & Kohler. Mr. Musser occupies an enviable position at the Akron Bar. He is decidedly bright, and possesses a clear, logical mind. He is persuasive in his arguments, strong in his convictions, determined and unyielding when he feels that he is right. Courage is his strong characteristic. His life has been most exemplary. Mr. Musser enjoys a large and profitable practice of a general character. He has been connected with many important cases. The case that has probably attracted the most attention was that of the State of Ohio vs. Romulus Cotel. With Mr. E. F. Voris he defended Cotel, charged with the murder of the Stone family and Ira Stillson at Tall- mage, Ohio, in 1896. A conviction was secured, and the Supreme Court set aside the verdict on error. Cotel afterwards pleaded guilty to murder in the second degree. The defense was upon the ground that he was a degenerate, and the saving of this man's life was due to the skillful work of the attorneys in the case. Mr. Musser is a Republican. While he takes a general interest in all political questions, he allows nothing to interfere with his law practice. He was for several years a member of the Republican executive committee of the county. He has never held political office. He is a director and stock- holder in the Citizens' National Bank of Akron. In 1886 he married
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Elizabeth Hammond Huston, of Nitany, Pennsylvania, and has had by this union four children. Three sons are living : Harvey Huston, James Coburn and Philip Sumner.
THOMAS M. SLOANE, Sandusky. Thomas Morrison Sloane, son of Judge Rush R. Sloane, was born at Sandusky, Ohio, July 28, 1854. He was prepared for college at Exeter, New Hampshire, in that ideal preparatory school-Phil- lips Exeter Academy-whose admirable curriculum has been at once the inspira- tion and the foundation of the broad and thorough scholarship of so many eminent men. Having completed the academic course he passed the examina- tions for admission to Harvard University in June, 1873, and entered upon the literary course there in September of the same year. He was graduated from Harvard in 1877, receiving his baccalaureate degree in course. He then stud- ied law for one year in the office of H. & L. H. Goodwin, of Sandusky, begin- ning in September, 1877. With this preliminary reading he entered the Law School of the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in the fall of 1878, and was graduated as a Bachelor of Laws in March, 1880. Upon receiving this degree he was admitted to practice in the courts of Michigan, and at once returned to his home in Sandusky. In May, 1880, he passed the required examination before the Supreme Court and was admitted to the Bar of the State. He began the practice or the law in partnership with E. B. King. He has continued in the practice and won a good position at the Bar. His suc- cess has been facilitated by the broad scholarship and clear understanding of the principles of the law which served as the preparation for practice in the courts. Mr. Sloane was married June 22, 1881, to Sarah Maria Carswell Cooke daughter of Pitt Cooke, a member of the Sandusky Bar. The union has been blessed with two children, Rush R. Sloane, Jr., born October 25, 1884, and Thomas Morrison Sloane, Jr., born January 14, 1893.
JESSE VICKERY, Bellevue. The subject of this biography is a native of the State and city in which he resides. He was born January 30, 1860. His parents, William and Sarah Vickery, natives of Devonshire, England, came to the United States in 1856 and settled directly in Bellevue, which was then a mere country village. He attended the district schools at first, until be was prepared to take up the academic studies. He then entered the high school at Clyde, whose course of study he pursued to completion. He was graduated from the school in 1880, after which he spent two years as a student in the Western Reserve University at Hudson. On Icaving the university he engaged in teaching for a ycar, studying the text books and principles of law mean- while with Mr. Thomas P. Dewey, of Clyde. In 1883 he entered the Law School of the University of Michigan. The credit which he had earned by pre- vious reading, and the habit of close application to study which he had formed,
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enabled him to complete the two years' course in one year. He passed the examination creditably, and was graduated with the class of 1884. In that great law school he enjoyed the benefit of the instruction and lectures of a very able faculty : Charles a Kent, of Detroit, the sound lawyer and ready instructor whose points and explanations were always clear to the class-who is descended from the same stock as the renowned chancellor ; the noble and venerable Alpheus Felch, who died in 1896, judge, governor and senator of the United States, who had honored himself in all these positions ; the enthu- siastic, popular and clear-headed Henry Wade Rogers, now president of the Northwestern University of Chicago; and last and greatest of all, that pro- found jurist, keen analytical and constitutional lawyer, Thomas M. Cooley. With his natural tastes and aptitudes for the law, supplemented by close and critical study, illustrated and impressed by instruction of the highest char- acter, Mr. Vickery was well qualified for practice when he was admitted to the Bar in 1884. On April 1, 1885, he opened his law office in Bellevue, in partnership with his brother, Willis Vickery, under the style of Vickery Broth- ers, which continued until 1897, when his brother removed to Cleveland. The character of his practice is general, and the little city of Belleview is admir- ably situated for reaching a number of larger cities with equal facility. On the very border of Huron county, it is scarcely more than a stone's throw from corners of the counties of Erie, Sandusky and Seneca. As a matter of record Mr. Vickery has practice of almost equal proportions in each of the four coun- ties. One of the important cases with which he has been successfully con- nected was that of the depositing creditors of the suspended Bellevue Bank- a case in which, as counsel for the creditors, his firm collected one hundred cents on the dollar, of all claims, with five or six per cent. additional. Cases growing out of this one against the bank are now in the courts of New York on appeal. Politically Mr. Vickery is a Republican, exhibiting the activity and interest in local politics which are among the best evidences of good citi- zenship. He married Bettie F. Haas, of Bellevue. The issue of this marriage is two boys. He is a believer in Christianity, a member of the Congregational Church and the superintendent of the Sunday school. He has a beautiful and comfortable residence, completed in 1895, and a pleasant home. He is active, enterprising and public-spirited, esteemed for moral worth and integrity, no less than genial manners and social traits. He is a careful, conscientious, painstaking lawyer. While earnest and zealous in behalf of a client, he employs such methods only as are approved by the most reputable practitioners. With him a case which can only be won by a trick is lost.
JOHN M. KILLITS, Bryan. Mr. Killits, prosecuting attorney of Williams county, is a native of the State, born of parents whose descent was German. He was born at Lithopolis, Fairfield county, October 7, 1858. His paternal grandfather, John Killets, came to America from Hamburg in 1805 and died
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in 1847. The father of our subject was born in Pennsylvania in 1836 and spent the early years of his life in that State and in Fairfield county, Ohio, later removing to Williams county, and was engaged in the dry goods trade from 1867 to 1881, at Bryan, and at farming until 1890. He then retired from active business and removed to Chicago where he now lives. The maternal ancestors of our subject emigrated from Germany the latter part of the last century and settled in Pennsylvania, where Daniel Crumley, his grandfather, was born. The latter married and settled in Fairfield county about 1825. He was by occupation a farmer and was for many years a justice of the peace and a highly respected citizen. He died in 1887 at the advanced age of eighty- five years. John M. Killits received the rudiments of his education in the pub- lic schools of Bryan. At the age of seventeen he entered the preparatory depart- ment of Oberlin College, where he remained one year, and then entered Will- iams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of A. B. Seven years later his Alma Mater conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. After leaving college he entered the field of journalism, publishing a daily and weekly paper at Red Oak, Iowa, which he conducted for three years, when he retired from the business with a valuable and costly experience. In March, 1884, he accepted a clerical posi- tion in the war department at Washington, but was soon after offered the position of private secretary to General Hazen, chief of signal corps and weather bureau. He held the position until 1887, when he resigned in order to enter on the practice of law, for which he had prepared himself during his residence in Washington. He was graduated from the Columbian Law School in 1885 and the following year took the post-graduate course, and was admit- ted to the Bar of the District of Columbia in the same year. Returning to Bryan he entered upon the practice of his profession February 1, 1888. He was thoroughly equipped so far as preparatory study could fit him, and he soon built up a good practice. In 1892 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Williams county and was re-elected in 1895. In the discharge of the duties of this office he has demonstrated his fitness for the profession. The two cases that brought him most prominently before the public and established his reputation, both as a lawyer and as an advocate, were those of the State of Ohio vs. William B. Elkins and Walter Plummer, charged with the murder of Arthur Brown. Despite the fact that there had already been two convictions for this murder, Mr. Killits was not satisfied that the guilty had all been pun- ished, and, taking up the thread of the case where his predecessor had dropped them, developed from new testimony so strong a case that the two men, here- tofore unsuspected, were indicted for murder in the first degree, thirteen months after the commission of the crime. They were separately tried and convicted on evidence largely circumstantial, and both are now in the peniten- tiary under life sentences. These trials lasted for almost three months and Mr. Killits had as opposing counsel a strong array of legal talent, but both parties were convicted after the hardest legal contests in the history of the county. The defendants carried the cases to the Circuit Court, but the ver-
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dicts of the lower court were sustained. Subsequently the Plummer case was taken to the Supreme Court of Ohio, where, again, the trial court was affirmed. In the Court of Common Pleas Mr. Killits was assisted by C. H. Masters, but in the Circuit and Supreme Courts he argued the cases alone. In political convictions Mr. Killits is a Republican and is active in local politics. He was married in Washington, D. C., June 21, 1887, to Miss Alice Nourse Steuart, a member of an old Maryland family whose ancestors came from England and Scotland in early Colonial times and whose representatives took part in both wars with England. They have two children, daughters.
CHARLES E. SCOTT, Bryan. Mr. Scott was born in Williams county, near Bryan, July 19, 1858. He is of Irish-German descent. His parents were William C. and Elizabeth (Millhouse) Scott, his father a native of Ohio and his mother of Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather was a native of the North of Ireland and came to America in the latter part of the last cent- ury, locating first in New York State, afterwards coming to Ohio at the the beginning of the present century, and before the admission of the territory as a State into the Union. He located in Wayne county, where he passed the remainder of his days. The father of our subject came to Williams county in 1850 and engaged in the manufacture of woolens, building one of the first woolen mills in northwestern Ohio. Later he exchanged the mill for a farm near Bryan, on which he lived until his death, in 1887. Mr. Scott's maternal ancestors came to the United States in the latter part of the last century and settled at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, where his mother was born. She came, in early life, to live with an aunt in Wayne county, where she met and mar- ried his father. Charles E. was educated in the public schools of Bryan, grad- uating from the high school in 1876, at the age of eighteen. Having chosen the law as a profession for his life work, he at once took up its study. He entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan and pursued his legal studies there for about two years. He passed the required examination before the Supreme Court of Ohio, in October, 1880, and was admitted to practice in all of the State courts. He began the practice at Defiance in con- nection with a Mr. Knapp, under the firm name of Knapp & Scott, a relation which continued for three years, when it was dissolved. Mr. Scott returned to Bryan and entered into partnership with his brother, Robert A. Scott, then prosecuting attorney for Williams county. This partnership was dissolved in 1886, by the death of his brother. He then formed a partnership with Phile- tus Smith, and practiced in this connection until 1890, when Mr. Smith removed to Chicago. In 1891 the present firm of Scott & Schrider was formed by associating with himself John H. Schrider. Mr. Scott's political creed is Democracy, but he is in no sense a politician. His ambition is to be known as a lawyer, and he devotes his time to the interests of his clients. He was
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married December 25, 1888, to Miss Daisy Plank, daughter of Samuel and Mary Fasig Plank, of Wauseon, Ohio. A well-known member of the Toledo Bar says :
"I have known Mr. Scott for several years. He is honorable, reputable, active and industrious. He possesses intellectual attainments of a high order. He is a close student, a clear and logical reasoner, an eloquent advocate and a first-class all-round lawyer. Well read in all branches of the law, it is in the defense in criminal causes that he excels. He carries an old man's head on a young man's shoulders. Young in years, strong and healthy in frame, with a strong, striking face, the manner of a tragedian, the voice, style and finish of an orator, I predict for him a brilliant future."
A very capable lawyer and prominent citizen of Columbus adds the fol- lowing :
"Charles E. Scott, of Bryan, Ohio, possesses the rare but sometimes dangerous quality of starting out upon the investigation and preparation of his case with the conviction (which strengthens as he proceeds) that his client is all right ; that his cause is just ; that if he does not win it is by reason of some default in the administration of justice and not because his facts are deficient or his law mischosen ; that everyone who stands between him and his client, whether witness, counsel, juror or judge, is his enemy. He comes near illus- trating the lawyer who, when he enters upon the trial of his cause, raises the black flag. In spite of all this Charles E. Scott is a prime favorite with the Bench and Bar. It was once said of him in the writer's presence that his mere presence before a court or jury was a fortune to any lawyer. Always superbly attired, he is still most popular with the plainest people, many times seen in the street walking arm in arm with a shabbily dressed client, appar- ently unconscious of all observers and with an air which impresses all behold- ers that he is saying to his client, 'We'll swipe'em off the face of the earth.' He is not only a tireless general student of the law, but in the preparation of his cases he is an omniverous reader, discarding everything that he finds in the books which seems against him as stuff not applicable to such a case as his. In a forensic sense he possessess many of the graces and accomplishments of an orator. When he is to make a plea, as plain people call it, he may depend upon a good audience outside of the jury box, and an attentive and interested hearing within it. Blunt, brave, rugged and faithful, he will clothe a scathing attack upon witness or counsel in words so smooth and sentences so well formed that the victim will half imagine himself the recipient of an exquisite compliment. It is not unusual to see him in pleasant converse with some one whom, within the previous half hour, he was fairly cauterizing with his slick but blistering words, explaining to him how disagreeable were, many times, a lawyer's duties. One thing Mr. Scott is in a pre-eminent degree. He is always himself. He is no imitation. He is original and unique, whenever and wherever you find him. Handsome, attractive and prepossessing in his per- sonal appearance, with a graceful and impressive presence, singly devoted to his client and his cause, he is well advanced upon a career which is destined soon to assign him to a conspicuous and commanding place in his chosen pro- fession."
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JACOB CLOYD RIDENOUR, Lima. J. C. Ridenour is a member of the firm of Ridenour & Halfhill. He is an American of Scotch-German descent. His ancestors were among the early settlers of the country and located in the State of Maryland. His great-grandfather, John Ridenour, was a soldier in the American army in the war of 1812. His grandfather emigrated from Maryland in 1820 and settled in Perry county, Ohio, removing from there ten years later and settling in Allen county. He was one of the pioneer settlers of that now populous region. His father, John Ridenour, was born and raised there ; married to Dorcas Dixson, daughter of Jacob Dixson, deceased, who was a prominent farmer of Lieking county and settled in Allen county, where Jacob Cloyd was born, March 9, 1860. When Jacob was two years old his father entered the army as a private soldier. He was a member of the 118th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served in the Eastern Depart- ment, participating in many of the hard fought battles of the Army of the Potomac, under Hooker, Burnside, Mead and Grant. When success was about to crown the Union arms he sickened and died in camp, at Washington, D. C., February 5, 1865. Our subject was raised on the farm and his early education was obtained in the district school, doing farm work in the intervals between terms, until he was eighteen. He then entered the Ada University, and passed the larger part of four years there, but did not take the regular course. A portion of the time was spent in teaching in the nearby districts, both common and graded schools. In 1883 he entered the Law Department of the Iowa State University and was graduated in June, 1885 ; was examined at Iowa City and admitted to the Bar, June 23, 1885. to practice in both State and Federal courts of Iowa. Returning to Ohio, he was made principal of the high school at La Rue, a position which he retained for one year. In 1886 h'e applied for admission to the Ohio Bar ; was examined and admitted at Columbus, June 2. He located at Lima in his native county, and began prac- tice June 21 of the same year. He formed a partnership with Gideon Ditto which was terminated by the latter's death, August 1887. September 1, of the same year, the present firm was organized by a partnership agreement with J. W. Halfhill under the firm name of Ridenour & Halfhill. Their practice includes all classes of legal business, and they have built up a large clientage both in the city and surrounding country. In late years they have undertaken some intricate and important cases, and the successful manner in which they handled them has greatly added to their reputation for legal acumen and forensic ability. In political affiliation Mr. Ridenour is a Democrat, while his partner is just as strongly Republican ; though neither of them allows politics to affect business or social relations. Mr. Ridenour is now serving a three-year term as prosecuting attorney for Allen county, having been elected in 1893. He was married, November 6, 1887, to Miss Maggie H. Browsher, daughter of the late Anthony Browsher, a farmer of Allen county. Two children, Walter Emily and Chester Eugene, are the fruits of this wedlock. The family belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and occupies a high social position in the community.
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