USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 34
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the winter and spring of 1874, and the summer of 1875, was spent in Mary- land and the District of Columbia by Mr. Doyle, taking testimony in the case. He was successful in establishing the legitimacy of the child, and the validity of the title of his clients. It was rather a remarkable triumph for a lawyer of so little experience in practice, and was illustrative of the keenness and the energy which have characterized his entire professional life. In 1879 Mr. Dovle was elected, as a candidate of the Republican party. judge of the Com- mon Pleas Court for the district embracing the counties of Lucas, Sandusky, Ottawa, Huron and Erie. The election terminated the partnership between himself and Mr. Bissell. The Bar of Toledo, without distinction of party, unanimously endorsed his candidacy. He soon became distinguished on the Bench of the nisi prius court for his fine discrimination as to the relevancy of testimony, the acuteness of his perception as to the law and its application, the dignity with which he presided, and his remarkable faculty for the dispatch of business. In 1882 he was nominated by the State convention of his party for judge of the Supreme Court, but the Republican ticket was defeated by a majority so large that the several thousand votes cast for hin in excess of the party vote were not sufficient to elect. In February, 1883, Judge Doyle was appointed by Governor Foster to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Bench caused by the resignation of Judge Longworth, and served until the next succeeding election. His intellectual, physical and professional qualifications for appel- late judicial duties were superb. He possessed natural abilites of a high order. He was just forty years of age, in the prime of vigorous middle life, and in full command of his best powers. He was also fresh from the experien- ces of a trial judge, in which his career had been a continuous and unqualified triumph. His record on the Supreme Bench was short, but unexceptionable. At the convention of 1883 the Republicans again nominated him for the full term, but the party was defeated that year. The game of battledoor and shut- tlecock in Ohio politics relieved him of further judicial service when the ver- dict of the November election was recorded. Judge Doyle then resumed practice in Toledo, and has continued to the present time. He is the senior mem- ber of one of the strongest firms in Lucas county. His ample resources derived from profound study and varied experience, and reinforced by habits of indus- try, good health and physical powers, make him powerful at the Bar. Both as a jurist and a practitioner he occupies the front rank in the profession of his State. Judge Doyle is quick, active and earnest in his work. He has a vast supply of nervous energy, and prodigious capacity for endurance. He has long been not only an active but also an advisory member of the Republican party. He is identified in belief and active relations with Christianity, and has for thirty years been a member of the First Congregational Church of Toledo. He has, in spite of an immense law practice, found some time for the study of literature, and connection with such educational work as tends to improve the minds and cultivate the society in his city. He was one of the organizers of the Toledo Library Association, now the Free Library of Toledo, and was chairman of the lecture committee for six years. In 1865 he assisted in organ-
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izing the Northwestern Lecture Bureau at Chicago, and served as its secretary for several years. Judge Doyle was commissioned a lieutenant in the Sixty- Seventh Regiment Ohio Volunteers during the war, but was prevented from accepting the commission by a severe and protracted illness. At the time of this appointment he was but eighteen years of age. In 1886 he was appointed by Governor Foraker one of the trustees of the Toledo Asylum for the Insane. Judge Doyle was married October 6, 1868, to Miss Alice Fuller Skinner, daughter of Dr. S. W. Skinner, formerly of Windsor, Connecticut, who is a descendant of the Wolcott and Ellsworth families, of which Chief Justice Ellsworth and Governor Wolcott were members. Three daughters born of this marriage are Elizabeth Wolcott, Grace Alice and Hellen Genevieve. Judge Doyle is a very courteous gentleman, whose popularity has fairly been won by his genial disposition, kindness of heart, high moral character and estimable social traits.
MANNING F. FORCE, Sandusky. General Manning F. Force was born at Washington, District of Columbia. December 17, 1824. His paternal ancestors were French Hugenots. IIis grandfather, William Force, was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. His father, Peter Force, a native of New Jersey, was the well-known compiler of the " American Archives," in the preparation of which he gathered the most complete collection of books and phamphlets upon American history ever made (except that of the British Museum), which was purchased for the Congressional Library a few months before his death, January 23, 1868. Manning prepared himself for West Point, at Alexandria, Virginia, but changing his purpose entered Harvard University ; was gradu- ated from the college in 1845 and from the law school in 1848. In January, 1849, he went to Cincinnati, and studied law for one year in the office of Walker & Kebler. In January, 1850, he was admitted to the Bar ; afterward became one of the firm of Walker. Kebler & Force; remained in partnership with Mr. Kebler after the death of Judge Walker, until the commencement of the war of the Rebellion. He then entered the army as major and was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Twentieth Ohio Volunteers ; and, having taken part in the capture of Fort Donelson and the battle of Pittsburg Land- ing, was soon after promoted to its colonelcy. Colonel Force was active in the advance to Corinth, and in the movements connected with the battles of Iuke and the Hatchie, or Pocahontas. He was engaged the entire day in Colonel Leggett's desperate fight near Bolivar. In the advance on to Vicksburg he was hotly engaged in the battles of Raymond and Champion Hills, and participated in those of Port Gibson and Jackson. During the siege of Vicksburg his reg- iment was taken from the trenches and sent with General Blair's expedition up the Yazoo. On his return in June, 1863, he was placed in command of the Second brigade, Third division, Seventeenth corps, which was detached to form a part of General Sherman's army, watching the movements of General Johnson. After the capture of Jackson by General Sherman, General Force re-
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ceived the Seventeenth corps gold medal of honor, by award of a board of offi- cers. In the latter part of August he was in General Stevenson's expedition to Monroe, Louisiana, on returning from which he received his appointment as brigadier general, and in October took part in General McPherson's demon- stration toward Canton. On November 15th, he was transferred to the com- mand of the First brigade, and was, during the winter, in command of the outpost at the crossing of the Big Black. In February, 1864, General Force went with General Sherman to Meridian. On the 4th the Seventeenth corps advanced, skirmishing eleven miles when the enemy gave way, and General Force's brigade, volunteering to push on, entered Jackson in the night. On the 14th General Force's brigade, detached to destroy the railroad bridge at Chunkey, came upon the rear of two brigades of cavalry, Stark's and Wirt Adams's, charged into their camp, drove them across the river, destroyed the bridge, and rejoined the army at Meridian, after an absence of two days. When the Seventeenth corps returned from veteran furlough and found Gen- eral Sherman at Ackworth, Georgia, Force's brigade formed the extreme left of Sherman's army. In June, Leggett's division, including Force's brigade, carried and occupied Bushy Mountain at the foot of Kenesaw. On July 3rd his brigade constituted the extreme right flank of the army. On the 4th General McPherson directed General Blair to have General Leggett send General Force with two regiments to beat up a cavalry camp understood to be somewhere in front, and to find a certain crossing on Nicajack creek. He drove the cavalry from their camp and across the creek, and in pursuance of additional orders penetrated to the main line of the enemy, and remained there almost surrounded, till recalled in the night. The army having crossed the Chattahoochee, he was again transferred to the extreme left flank, on the 14th, and on the 21st his brigade attacked and carried a fortified hill in full view of Atlanta, defended by General Cleburne's division. In the terrible battle next day, when General Hood endeavored in vain to recapture this hill, General Force was shot through the upper portion of his face ; was supposed to be mortally wounded, and sent home. He was able, however, on October 22nd, to report for duty to General Sherman at Galesville, Alabama, where the latter had paused in his pursuit of General Hood. General Force was brevetted major-general for "especial gallantry before Atlanta," and subse- quently received the congressional medal of honor. He commanded his bri- gade on the march from Atlanta to Savannah and commanded the Third division across South Carolina. He forced the crossing at Orangeburg, and was promoted at Goldsborough to command the First division Seventeenth corps. While General Force had but four staff officers, besides a quarter- master, in the seven months from June, 1864, to January 1865, three of his staff were killed in the field, one mortally wounded, one taken prisoner, and two sent to the hospital broken down with exhaustion. After the general muster out of the army of the Tennessee, in the summer of 1865, General Force was appointed to the command of a district of Mississippi, where he
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was mustered out in January, 1866. Upon returning to Cincinnati he was appointed colonel of the Thirty-second regular infantry, but declined. Of General Force's record as a soldier it may be said that he was at the front during the whole war, that he lost neither a cannon nor a caisson nor a wagon, and his command, though always in the extreme front, was never taken by surprise, and never gave way under fire. Having resumed the practice of his profession in Cincinnati, he was elected in the fall of 1866 a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and at the expiration of his term in 1871, was re-elected. In the autumn of 1876 he was nominated for Congress on the Republican ticket, but being on the Bench took no part in the canvass. He was defeated by a majority of nearly seven hundred by Milton Sayler, an able and popular member of Congress, who had previously been elected by majorities of three and four thousand. In the spring of 1877 Judge Force was elected judge of the Superior Court of Cincinnati, and in April, 1882, was re-elected without opposition, being unanimously nominated by the conventions of both political parties. He was able, patient, industrious and impartial ; a diligent student of the older law as well as of later decisions; adept in hearing jury trials. He disposed of many important cases and some new questions and was seldom reversed by the Supreme Court. Both the Common Pleas and the Superior Court being vested by law with authority to appoint trustees of many public institutions, he always insisted on the appointment of the best men who could be found. But when the legislature required the Superior Court of Cincinnati to appoint a large portion of the municipal government of Cincinnati, he con- curred with the other judges in holding that was not a judicial function and in declining to make such appointment. He was for twelve years professor of equity and criminal law in the Cincinnati Law College, and for twenty years president of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio. He is fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, member of the Archaeological Institute of America, American Historical Association, Anthropological Society of Washington, National Geographic Society, Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, and Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society ; and corresponding member of Real Academia de la Historia, Madrid, and of the Historical Societies of Massachusetts, Virginia, Wisconsin, Buffalo and Western Reserve. He wrote notes to two editions of Walker's American Law, and two editions of Harrison's Criminal Law; "From Fort Henry to Corinth " and pamphlets, "Pre-Historic Man," " Darwinism and Deity," " The Mound Builders," " Observations on the Letters of Amer- igo Vespucci," "Early Notices of Indians in Ohio," "To What Race Did the Mound Builders Belong," "Scholar and Man." "Marching Across the Carolinas," "Personal Reminiscences of the Vicksburg Campaign," " Address Before the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio," "Bio- graphical Sketches of Justice John McLean and General John Pope. The State of his health compelled him to give up judicial 'work in January, 1887, and to decline re-election. His health being partially
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restored, he resumed the practice of his profession for a short time, but as open air work was necessary for him, he accepted the appointment as commandant of the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Home at Sandusky, which was tendercd him by Governor Foraker, on the opening of that institution in 1888. He is still serving the State in that position. He married Frances Dabney Horton, of Pomeroy, Ohio, May 13, 1874, and has one son. Judge Force is a gentle- man of deep and wide culture, a lawyer of great ability ; a judge of acute discriminating quality of mind, and a man in whom all the gentler traits pre- dominate. The fiber of his intellect is fine and its texture strong ; his nature is compassionate, and his human sympathy easily touched. Kindness, court- esy, gentleness and sincerity characterize his social intercourse.
ASAHEL W. JONES, Youngstown. Honorable Asahel Wellington Jones was born September 8, 1838, at Johnstonville, Trumbull county, Ohio. The earliest record of the family in America is at Barkhamstead, Connecticut, when Benjamin Jones, of Welsh origin, and probably the founder of the family in this country, moved there from Enfield in the same colony in 1635. His grandson, Captain Isreal Jones, also moved from Enfield and became the second settler in the township of which Barkhamstead is the center. The latter established his home in East Mountain and his farm still remains the property of his descendants. His son, William C. Jones, a veteran of the Revolution, conspicuous in the battles of Bunker Hill and Saratoga, emigrated with his son William to Herkimer county, New York, and thence to Hartford, Ohio, in 1802. William was the father of William P. Jones, who was the father of our sub- ject and a native of Hartford, Ohio, born July 11, 1814. William P. Jones married Mary J. Bond who was born at Avon Springs, New York, February 26, 1816 and came to Hartford, Ohio, in 1833. She died at Youngstown in March, 1882, leaving only one child, Asahel W. Jones. He was born and raised on a small farm, and in 1849 removed with his father's family to Farm- ington, Trumbull county, and there he attended the common school, after- wards taking an academic course at the Western Reserve Academy at Farm- ington. In those days he went through the routine that so many of our promi- nent men have experienced-worked on the farm in summer and attended school during the fall and winter months. This continued until the spring of 1857, when he commenced reading law with Curtis & Smith, of Warren, and was admitted to the Bar September 27, 1859. He practiced alone there until 1861, when the oil excitement broke out at Mecca, when he at once opened an office there, which he continued until July 5, 1864. He then removed to Youngstown, where he has remained. He was the first in this section of the country to make a strong move for the protection of the public and the labor- ing classes by instituting suits for damages against railroads and large corpo- rations for personal injury. In one year he recovered judgments aggregating $100,000, and by his vigorons action gave large employers and transportation
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companies an object lesson in the necessity of exercising care and vigilance in the protection of their employes and the public. His practice has been con- fined almost entirely to civil cases. He does not like criminal practice, and for the past twenty years has absolutely declined to appear in criminal trials. He is an authority on corporation law, and although at the commencement of his career he was in a position somewhat antagonistic to corporations, he has since become a great corporation counsel. His advice is always based upon a full consideration of the public welfare and interests. He considers that it is the duty of corporations to give due weight and thought to the public good, and is not content to confine action to the narrow ground of the public rights. He advocates a fair and honest policy in all matters affecting the people. For the past twenty years he has been general counsel for the Pittsburg and West- ern Railroad, attorney for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. He has been conspicuous in the reorganization of many smaller railroad corporations, among others the Pittsburg, Akron and Western Railroad. It has become a fixed principle with him to keep his clients out of court if possible, and no matter if it is a large corporation or an individual client he is equally earnest in bringing about a settlement and avoiding litigation if it can be accomplished with equity and justice. He is broad-minded and of an equable temperament. After exhausting every effort to settle outside of court he assumes a very different attitude, becomes firm, determined and aggressive. The kid glove is exchanged for the mailed hand, and the opposing parties find their vigilance and legal acumen tested to the utmost. He possesses all the qualities that make up a great lawyer ; is indus- trious and cautious, a sound reasoner and thinker and a gifted advocate. In politics he is a Republican. It is his conviction that the tenets of that party comprise the essence of sound government and the highest moral principles. He is thoroughly consistent in his life, words and actions, and although a strong partisan there is no bitterness in his political attitude. He has never sought or desired office, but in 1895, in the Republican convention at Zanes- ville, he was unanimously chosen for lieutenant governor of Ohio, and although he protested most emphatically he was induced by his numerous friends to accept the nomination, and was afterwards elected by a large majority. Probably one of the most powerful influences that determined him ultimately to accept this nomination was his great esteem for Governor Bushnell, who headed the ticket. They had been warm personal friends since the time they were both members of Governor Foraker's staff, when Governor Jones was judge advocate general of the State. He is very close to the hearts of the people of Ohio, and is universally esteemed for his sincerity, integrity and courage. He was the principal factor in the organization of the Second National Bank of Youngstown, in which institution he is a director and large stockholder. Another important enterprise that was suggested and brought into being by his energy is the Dollar Savings and Trust Company of Youngs- town, in which he is also a director. Outside of law, business and politics, his recreation is a magnificent model farm of six hundred acres, within easy dist-
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ance of the city, which is perfectly equipped with buildings and implements, and in addition is stocked with a superb herd of short-horn cattle and Oxford sheep. A few years ago he found it advisable to discontinue the breeding of sheep, but under the present more favorable auspices has resumed. His cattle are famous throughout the country, and although he has lavished large sums of money upon the breeding of cattle and in perfecting the farm, it has been done with judgment and sagacity, and instead of being an expensive luxury it has not proved unprofitable. An eminent member of the Ohio Bar who has been closely associated with Governor Jones for more than twenty years, and who speaks of him from intimate personal knowledge, writes as follows:
" Nature has been generous to Mr. Jones. She bestowed upon him a magnificent presence. He is large and commanding in person ; his features are strong and impressive. He is well known in every part of the State ; for once seen, no one would forget him. His mind operates with quickness and precision, taking in and holding a broad view upon all subjects. He has a natural talent for investigation, and whatever he undertakes to investigate it seems impossible for him to stop until he has gone over the entire field. He is a great reader on all subjects, particularly history and biography, and for the last thirty years has been a great student upon a variety of subjects. One peculiarity of his mind is that he possesses a wonderful memory. Having chosen the law early in his life, with his wonderful ability to investigate, it is not at all surprising that in this field he is best known, and to which he has devoted most of his great abilities. In a very short time he showed great ability in the handling of large and important causes, and he has always been remarkably successful in the outcome of causes in which he took special interest. Once enlisted in a case there is no labor too great for him to perform that seemed necessary to bring it to a successful termination. He does not always rise to his full capacity in an argument of a cause, either to the court or jury, but when he does it is little short of terrific. His great common sense and his quickness to discern the strong points in his own case, and the weak points in his adversary's, has rarely been excelled, and equalled by but few lawyers in this country. When investigating a legal proposition it is his habit to put himself as near as possible in the position of a judge, and he has a remarkable felicity in disrobing himself of all partisan interest, and when he arrives at a conclusion his presentation of the same becomes a pro- found thesis upon that branch of the law. In politics Mr. Jones has always been a Republican of the staunchest sort, and has always found some time to devote to furthering the interests of the party. For one period of twenty years the writer has known him never to miss attending a State convention of the party in Ohio. He was never a candidate but once before his nomination for lieutenant governor, and that was when he was a candidate for governor, at which he would in all probability have been nominated, but for the fact that there was a general call for the nomination of Senator Foraker for a third term. His great, rugged common sense and ideas of justness and propriety in politics have often led him to express himself in a way which the ordinary politician would pronounce as impolitic, but once committed to a canse lie had always the courage of his convictions. He believes that politics should be conducted as squarely and honestly as any business transaction. In a division of the honors of the party, he has eminently preferred others to himself, and the convention over, always found him devoting all the time at his command to the success of the ticket. As a campaign speaker he has been much sought for, and there is scarcely any corner of the State that has not heard him, and
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where once heard he is always again a welcome visitor. On all political questions he has been a most thorough investigator. Government has been his most favored theme of investigation. All forms of government, and the weakness and strength of each, have been well considered by him, and lew are so well equipped to sustain ideas of government and govern- · mental policy as he. He is not a mere politician. He brings to his ideas of statesmanship the history of all governments of the past. His study of governments has been not as a politician but as a statesman."
In his domestic relations Mr. Jones has been most happy. On September 24, 1861, he was married to Miss Jeanette Palmer, whom he met while attending the same seminary. There were born to them two children, a daughter and a son, the latter having died just after having arrived at the age of twenty-three. His daughter is the wife of Professor Robert King, of Wabash College, and inherits, in a great degree, the ability of her father. Mr. Jones is of a genial and kind disposition, as his hosts of friends all over the State are glad to acknowledge. Every position of trust which was ever committed to him has been performed with the utmost fidelity. One of the cardinal virtues of the life of Mr. Jones has been that whenever he made a promise it was willingly fulfilled.
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