USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 30
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RUTHERFORD H. PLATT, Columbus. Rutherford Hayes Platt was born September 6, 1853, at Columbus, Ohio. The Platt family from which he is descended came to America with the earliest colonists about 1620. Benjamin Platt, his great-grandfather, was a native of Connecticut, and removed from Milford in that State to Columbus, Ohio, shortly after the foundation of the latter city. His father, William A. Platt, was born in Lanesborough, Mass- achusetts, and came to Columbus to join his grandfather while still a boy. Rutherford's mother was Fanny A. Hayes, sister of President Rutherford B. Hayes. William A. Platt was prominently identified with the growth of the city of Columbus, was a successful merchant, and a man of great business abil- ity. Rutherford was the only son, and was educated at Harcourt Place school, Gambier, Ohio, and at the famous Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass- achusetts. He graduated from the latter school June, 1870, and in the fall of the same year entered Yale College, graduating in the classical department in 1874. He then spent two years in Europe in travel and the study of the modern languages. In 1877 he entered Columbian Law School, from which he graduated in 1879, being one of the five honor men in a class numbering 250. He was admitted in June, 1879, to the Bar at Columbus, Ohio, by the Supreme Court. For some years he was the law partner of General John G. Mitchell. When the College of Law of the Ohio State University was estab- lished in 1891, Mr. Platt was chosen professor of the subject of pleading, and filled that position for four years with great satisfaction to the students and trustees of the university, until the removal of the law school from the center of the city to the university grounds, when Mr. Platt resigned in order to give his entire attention to his private practice. Mr. Platt is one of the best edu- cated members of the Columbus Bar, and as a lawyer is held in the highest esteem by the fellow members of his profession. He is especially versed not only in court procedure but in the laws governing estates and their adminis- tration, in which practice he has had large experience. He was appointed member of first board of directors of Columbus Work House, and has given much time and attention to the organization and operation of that institution; has served as director and counsel for many of the largest corporations, includ- ยท ing the Door, Sash and Lumber Company, Columbus Gas Light and Coke Company, Franklin Insurance Company, The National Exchange Bank, Colum- bus Savings Bank, the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company. He has been a member for many years and since 1894 president of board of trustees of Greenlawn Cemetery Association. Mr. Platt married in January, 1887, Miss Maryette Smith, of Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Captain Robert S. Smith, counsel for the Columbus and Xenia Railroad. Mrs. Maryette Smith Platt is the granddaughter, on her mother's side, of Joseph R. Swan, one of the most eminent jurists of the Ohio Supreme Court. Mr. Platt has two sons, Robert S. and Rutherford, Jr., and two sisters living, Mrs. General John G. Mitchell and Mrs. General Russell Hastings, and one sister deceased, Mrs. Dr. Erskine B. Fallerton.
Edward Hi Ficiel
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EDWARD H. FITCH, Jefferson. Honorable Edward Hubbard Fitch, who has for years been conspicuous in law, science and politics, was born May 27, 1837, at Ashtabula, Ohio. His father, Honorable Orramel Hinckley Fitch, a lawyer and man of affairs, was born in Connecticut, and his ancestors were English. His mother, Catherine M. Hubbard, was a native of Trenton, New York State, whose parents formerly resided in Middletown, Connecticut, and were likewise of English descent. At an early age Edward was sent to the grammar school at St. Catherine's, Canada, where he was prepared for college. In 1854 he entered Williams College and was graduated with honors in 1858, being one of the class orators. While at college he was the president of the Natural History Society. After receiving his degree of Bachelor of Arts he returned to Ashtabula and at once entered his father's office where he began the study of law. He was admitted to the Bar by the District Court of Cuy- ahoga county in September, 1860. The following year Williams College con- ferred upon him the degree of A. M. He commenced practice at once alone, but in a short time formed a copartnership with his father, which continued until January 1, 1863, when his father retired from practice. He then formed a partnership with Judge Horace Wilder, afterwards a judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio, under the name of Wilder & Fitch. This continued until the December following, when Mr. Wilder was appointed to the Supreme Court Bench. He then practiced alone until July, 1864, when he became a partner of Judge L. S. Sherman, who at this time is the oldest practitioner in this county. In 1868 this firm was dissolved and he was again alone until 1878, when he formed a partnership with Honorable S. A. Northway, now Con- gressman from this district. In the fall of 1878 he removed to Jefferson, Ashtabula county, where he has continued to reside. Ten years later this partnership was dissolved and he remained alone until September 1, 1896, when he formed a copartnership with his son, Winchester Fitch, with offices at Jefferson and Ashtabula, the son being in charge of the Ashtabula office. In 1870 Mr. Fitch was, by Governor R. B. Hayes. appointed delegate from the Nineteenth District to the National Capital Convention, at Cincinnati, and in the same year he was admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States upon the motion of James A. Garfield, who had been his friend since college days. Mr. Fitch has for years enjoyed one of the largest law practices of the lawyers of northeastern Ohio. He is a lawyer of great abil- ity and has the reputation of conducting a case with great skill. His argu- ments to the court are always clear, strong and to the point, omitting nothing essential to a complete statement and containing no surplusage. Before the jury he is both forcible and persuasive, evincing the art and power of the advocate. He has been most successful with his cases on error, and has won a large majority of the numerous cases he has argued in the Supreme Court. His practice, while it has been of necessity of a general character, has had much to do with insurance and real estate law. Mr. Fitch is politically a Republican. His first vote was cast for Lincoln and he has always taken an active interest in State and National politics. An orator of force and influence
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he is much sought for public speaking. For twenty years he was recorder and a member of the Ashtabula council. In 1867 and 1868 he was prosecuting attorney for Ashtabula county. He was for fifteen years a justice of the peace and forty years a notary public. He was several years a member of the Republican State central committee. Mr. Fitch was appointed by Governor Mckinley in 1894 chairman of the Torrence Commission. He is a Fel- low of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a member of the American Bar Association, the Ohio Bar Association and of the Sons of the American Revolution. He was for a number of years chairman of the committee of judicial administration and legal reform of the Ohio State Bar Association. In 1863 Mr. Fitch was married to Alta D. Winchester, a daughter of Philander Winchester, at one time editor of the Painesville Telegraph, a noted Abolitionist and one of the founders of the Republican party. Of this union there have been eight children, five of whom are living: Winchester, born November 21, 1867, now a member of the Bar and partner of his father; Annette, born January 31, 1870, and married January 31, 1892, to Curtis Brewer, who is at present city engineer of Sandusky and connected with the Jarecki Chemical Company ; Edward H., born March 31, 1873, educated in the Western Reserve Academy at Hudson, Oberlin College and Cornell University ; at the latter place, being a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity, to which his father; brother and brother-in-law also belong, and of the University foot-ball team, receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1897 ; Alta, born July 24, 1875, and Flora, born August 5, 1878. [Mr. Fitch died at Conneaut, his summer residence on Lake avenue, Thursday, September 9, 1897, and was buried in Chestnut Grove Cemetery, Ashtabula.]
GEORGE L. CONVERSE, Columbus. The late George Leroy Converse was born in Georgeville, Franklin county, Ohio, on the 4th day of June, 1827. He was a son of Dr. George W. and Casandra (Cook) Converse. His father was a physician, the son of Sanford Converse, a soldier in the war of 1812, and Sanford was a son of Jeremiah, a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The family descent is from the French Hugenots, and the first of the American line came to the western continent with Governor Winthrop. After the death of Dr. Converse his widow, being a woman of more than ordinary attainments, supported herself and child by teaching. George, guided and assisted by his mother, attained the elements of his education in the district schools, after- wards attending the Central College for seven years, then entered Dennison University at Granville, and was graduated in 1849. He studied law in the office of General J. W. Wilson at Tiffin, but removed to Columbus in January, 1852. In 1854 he was elected prosecuting attorney, serving one term and declining re-election. Mr. Converse was accorded a leading position in the Franklin county Bar. He was devoted to his profession and did not court political preferment. In 1859 he was elected a member of the legislature and
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was re-elected in 1861, serving two terms. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate and became the recognized Democratic leader. In 1863 he was elected to the lower House and was made Speaker, where his efficiency and resources as a parliamentarian attracted the attention of the entire country. He was re-elected in 1875 and was the Democratic leader on the floor of the House. In 1887 he was a prominent convention candidate for governor, with Durbin Ward and R. M. Bishop as competitors, Bishop being successful. In 187S he was elected to Congress. Mr. Randall, the speaker, appointed him chairman of the committe on public lands. He was re-elected in 1880 with but little opposition. The position taken by Mr. Converse on the tariff and his eminent abilities made him a conspicuous figure. He was fully in accord with Mr. Randall, believing and advocating that a tariff should be so levied as to pro- tect the industries of the country against foreign competition, especially agri- cultural interests, including wool. It was Mr. Converse who moved to strike out the enacting clause of the Morrison horizontal tariff bill when in com- mittee of the whole it was under discussion. After the defeat of the bill its friends and opponents agreed that the question should be authoritatively set- tled by the Democratic National Convention of Chicago. Mr. Randall was to champion those who opposed and Mr. Morrison those who supported the bill. Mr. Randall was unavoidably detained from the first day of the convention and Mr. Converse, though not a delegate, sought a place in the Ohio delega- tion and membership on the committee on resolutions, when the control was to be reached by an attempt to make Mr. Morrison chairman. The opponents of the bill were successful, but Mr. Converse, although entitled to the honor himself, requested that Mr. Morrison be made chairman. In return for this courtesy he was invited by Mr. Morrison to make a speech in reply to Benjamin F. Butler, who spoke against the report of the committee. Mr. Converse con- tributed largely to the presidential success in 1884. With Mr. Randall he was called to New York and made a canvass of that State. In his practice, as well as in his life and citizenship, Mr. Converse sustained a character for integrity and honesty of purpose beyond reproach. He was fairly entitled to the distinction he won. He was clean-cut and sagacious. As a lawyer he attained high rank at the Bar; as a citizen be gained the respect and confi- dence of all who knew him. He was a typical American, loyal to the best interests of his country ; was kind and obliging to those who were struggling to obtain recognition at the hands of his countrymen. In 1892 Gov- ernor Mckinley appointed him a delegate to the Nicaraguan Canal convention held at St. Louis. He was made chairman of the convention, and of a subse- quent convention held at New Orleans, called by him under authority of the St. Louis convention. In this he advanced the view that this government should construct the Nicaragua Canal as a national safeguard and in the interest of commerce, supporting his position by a strong argument and later by public addresses in the larger cities. George L. Converse practiced at the Franklin county Bar nearly fifty years and undoubtedly had more cases than any other lawyer at the Bar. The space allotted to this sketch prevents the
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mention of important cases in which he was engaged. He was known as a hard, earnest and almost desperate fighter and would never surrender a point. On the 16th day of September he married Sarah E., daughter of Nathaniel Patterson. Mrs. Converse died on the 19th of November, 1883, highly respected for her many good qualities. He again married in 1889, his second wife being Eloise, daughter of Dr. C. P. Landon, an eminent physician of Colum- bus. Mr. Converse died at his home at Columbus on the 30th of March, 1897.
WINCHESTER FITCH, Ashtabula. Winchester Fitch is descended from a family of lawyers. His earlier English ancestors were connected with the pro- fession, and he is the third generation of the family engaged in the practice of law in Ashtabula. With his inherited tendencies, studious habits and determi- nation to master the principles of the law, it is fair to assume he will maintain the reputation of the family. The son of Honorable Edward H. Fitch and Alta D. Winchester, he was born at Ashtabula, November 21, 1867, and received his primary education in the public schools of that city. After he had passed through the grammar school his parents removed to Jefferson, where he was graduated from the high school. At the age of fifteen he entered the Cascadilla School at Ithaca, New York, where he was prepared for college. In 1884 he entered Cornell University, and was graduated in 1888 from the literary department of that institution. His favorite studies were history and the languages. After graduation he went to Chicago, and was for a time in the general offices of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He then became a reporter upon the Inter Ocean, and later was appointed the marine editor, and afterwards literary editor of the Chicago Evening Journal. For a short time prior to the Columbian Exposition he was a member of the real estate firm of Edwin Reed & Co. While in Chicago he read law and was a student of the Chicago College of Law, taking the night course. In 1893 he returned to Jefferson to complete his law studies in his father's office. In 1894 he was admitted to practice at Columbus by the Supreme Court. At this time he owned an interest in the Geneva Times, and edited the paper until 1895, when he came to Ashtabula. Since that time he has been associated with his father in the practice of law, under the firm name of Fitch & Fitch, with offi- ces in Jefferson and Ashtabula. Mr. Fitch is a Republican, and has been a member of the county central committee, of the senatorial committee, and of the board of county school examiners. During the campaign of 1896 he was an assistant to Colonel Haskell and Major Dick at the Republican National headquarters in Chicago. In that position he discharged the duties devolving upon him with much skill, and in a manner entirely satisfactory to them and the National committee. On June 30, 1897, Mr. Fitch was married to Miss Florence Hopper, daughter of George H. Hopper, Esquire, of New York, a member of the Standard Oil Company, at "Elinwood" his country seat at Unionville, Lake county, Ohio. Mr. Fitch is a member of the Ohio State Bar
The Century Publishing & Engraving Co. Chicago.
Winchester Fitch
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Association, the Western Reserve Society, of the Sons of the American Revo- lution, the Cincinnati Society of Colonial Wars, the Rowfant Club of Cleveland and the Twentieth Century Club of Chicago.
THEODORE HALL, Ashtabula. Theodore Hall was born August 29, 1838, at Ashtabula, Ohio, his father, Stephen Hall, was a native of New York, and removed as a young man to Ohio and settled in Ashtabula, where he engaged in the mercantile business. The family are of English descent. The first member of the family in America was John Hall, who was born in Kent, England, in 1584, and came to this country in 1633, settling in New England. He died at Middletown, Connecticut, May 26, 1673. Stephen Hall, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, served through the Revolutionary War and was a member of the Society of Cincinnati, a society of American Revolutionary officers, founded by George Washington. He was captain of a company in Colonel Herman Swift's regiment. Friend Hall, his grandfather, was born in Connecticut, September 10, 1773, and was a private in the war of 1812. His great- uncle, Amos Hall, was general in command at Buffalo, New York, in the same war. His mother was Ruth Booth, daughter of George Booth, who resided in Ashtabula county. She died when Theodore was a child. His early education was in the district and high school at Ashtabula, and in 1858 to 1860 he attended the Alleghany College at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He then entered the office of the Honorable Laban S. Shcrinan, where he read law, and was admitted to practice September 10, 1861. In November, 1861, he located in Geneva, Ashtabula county, and practiced law there one year. From November, 1862, to the fall of 1863 he was deputy internal revenue col- lector at Ashtabula. Returning to Geneva he practiced his profession until March, 1866. He then returned to Ashtabula, where he has since practiced. In 1867 he formed a partnership with Honorable L. S. Sherman under the firm name of Sherman & Hall. This lasted until 1875. He has since almost continuously practiced alone. His business has been of a general character. For a number of years he has had a large amount of corporation business, and has probably tried more personal damage cases than any other lawyer in Ashtabula county. He is now the local counsel for the Lake Shore & Michi- gan Southern Railroad, and also for the Nickel Plate. Mr. Hall's ability as a critical, technical lawyer is recognized by the Bar, and he has been most successful upon error, winning a large proportion of his cascs taken to the higher courts. Politically a Republican, he has never sought or held office of any importance. In the campaign of 1896 he made a number of speeches for Mckinley. In 1862 he married Lucy Pierce, of Saybrook, and by this union there are two children, a son and a daughter. Mrs. Hall died in 1889 and in 1892 he married Nellie Ketcham, of Ashtabula, by whom he has one son.
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GILFORD L. MARBLE. Van Wert. Gilford Lionel Marble was born in Delphos, Allen county, Ohio, September 22, 1862. He is the son of Colonel John M. C. and Mary L. Marble, and is recognized both in the profession and in the community as one of the representative members of the Bar of his county. He was educated in the public schools and afterwards received the best scholastic advantages as a student of the college of New Jersey at Prince- ton, the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, and the University of Woos- ter. Having decided at an early age to enter the legal profession, he began his special preparation in 1880 in the office of J. K. O'Neal, at Lebanon. Soon afterwards he entered the office of Irvine, Brice & Hackedorn, at Lima, where he remained until he was admitted to the Bar. The firm was then reorganized and he was admitted to membership under the firm name and style of Hacke- dorn, Wheeler & Marble. While a member of this firm Mr. Marble gained for himself a high reputation. His first important work was the settlement of the complicated affairs of the Lima Car Works, the adjustment of which was placed in his hands when the works failed in 1884. In 1885 he returned to Van Wert and became identified with the Cincinnati, Jackson and Mackinaw Railroad as general counsel, a position which he retained until 1888. Among the note worthy cases with which he has been connected as counsel a few may be men- tioned : He was attorney for the contractors of the C. J. and M. Railway in their suit against that company, which he finally won, after three years of lit- igation, securing to his clients the full payment of their claim. He was attorney for the employes of Luman A. Andrews et al, trustees, vs. Pittsburg, Akron and Western Railway. The road had been placed in the hands of a receiver in 1895 owing its employes back pay for services extending over a period of from six months to three years. He was successful in this suit also, collecting his clients' claims in full. He was attorney for the defendant in the contest brought by Warren F. Penn vs. Roenna Penn et al, to set aside the will of John W. Penn, deceased. It was the most noted will case in the county, involving some thirty thousand dollars, and was very stubbornly contested. Marble and Blockly won the case for their clients when it seemed hopeless in the opinion of other attorneys of the county. Mr. Marble is a progressive, enterprising and public-spirited citizen. He is at the same time conservative in the best sense of that word, opposing reckless extravagance and unneces- sary loss or waste ; he would foster and build up, promoting every practical undertaking whose object is the betterment of conditions in the municipality, physical, educational and moral. Mr. Marble is a man of excellent intellectual attainments and professional ability. His personal traits are such as gained for him popularity and esteem. He has an individuality that is marked and positive, while his cordiality of manner in intercourse and his equability of temper attract others. He has been married twice, first in December, 1887, to Miss Leonora Sherwood, by whom he had one daughter, Katherine, born April 8, 1891. In September, 1894, he was married to Cora M. DePuy, an accomplished lady of Van Wert. By this marriage he has one son, named John McKinley, born December 13, 1895.
The Century Publishing & Engraving Co. Chicago.
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THOMAS H. LOLLER, Dennison. Mr. Loller is a native of Ohio, born at Nashville. Holmes county, September 14, 1861. His parents were W. B. and Lucinda M. Duncan Loller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. He obtained his early education in the public schools of his native town, graduating from the high school with the class of 1880. He then entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Delaware, remaining there for one year, when he took up the study of law under the instruction of T. D. Healey, of Urichs- ville, Ohio, taking a preparatory course, after which he entered the Law Department of the University of Michigan and was graduated from that insti- tution in 1884, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted the same year by the Supreme Court at Columbus to practice in all the courts of Ohio, and began the practice of law at Dennison in the spring of 1885, where he has continued without interruption to the present time. He has held the office of city solicitor for a period of ten years. He has been the attorney for the Dennison Building and Loan Association for about the same period. He has devoted himself entirely to his profession and has built up a clientage that is eminently respectable both in proportions and character. He attends closely to his business and is faithful in the interests of his clients. In politics he is Republican, but not an active partisan, though at present a member of the county central committee. Referring to his standing at the Bar, one of the ablest practitioners of Tuscarawas county remarked : "T. H. Loller is a very good all around lawyer. During the ten or twelve years he has been at this Bar he has maintained himself very well. He appears frequently in court trials, though I think most of his practice is in the nature of chancery cases and office business. He is well read, a pleasant speaker and makes a strong argument before a jury. He has in him the elements of a successful attorney. He is upright, of strict integrity and deserves the liberal support he is receiv- ing." Mr. Loller affiliates fraternally with the Masonic Order. He is a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine, Aladdin Temple, of Columbus. He was married in 1886 to Miss Lucy Laylander, daughter of James and Mary Crouch Laylander, an old and prominent family of Millers- burg, Ohio. They have one son, Charles Ansell.
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