USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 42
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Geiger was an ardent supporter of Mr. Lincoln's administration and of the war for the suppresion of the Rebellion. He visited Mr. Chase, secretary of the treasury, at his office, at the close of a cabinet meeting, where the ques- tion of peaceable separation was being considered by the cabinet, and urged him, as a representative of the sentiment of the people of Ohio, to support and encourage Mr. Lincoln in his efforts for the preservation of the Union as an entirety, assuring him that the State of Ohio was loyal and united in support of the policy of Mr. Lincoln for the suppression of the Rebellion. At the next meeting of the cabinet Mr. Chase gave his support to the views of Mr. Lincoln, as to maintaining the Union, with a majority of the cabinet. As to the importance of these cabinet meetings see Mr. Nicolay's history of Lincoln. He was judge advocate of the staff of General E. P. Fyffe, and was actively engaged during the war in enforcing the law against persons and organizations who were seeking to hinder the drafting of recruits for the army. "The Knights of the Golden Circle" had organized a number of lodges in the county. These he completely broke up and had the leaders sent to "Camp Chase," where some of them were confined for two years or more. Mr. Geiger was admitted to practice in the United States courts at Washing- ton City, in March, 1861, upon the motion of Honorable Thomas Ewing, Senior. In 1889 he was elected judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the second subdivision of the Second District of Ohio, and served five years. In 1884 and 1886 his name was presented by the unanimous action of the Repub- lican party and attorneys of Champaign county as a candidate for the position of District Judge of the Second District of Ohio. Judge Geiger stands high at home both in his profession and as a public-spirited citizen. He is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and for many years has been a member of the official board. IIe has been a member of this society since the age of sixteen. He was married March 28, 1844, at Millersburgh, Ohio, to Miss Rosalinda Gleason, daughter of Aaron Gleason, a native of New Jersey, who removed to Ohio in 1837. They had six children, five of whom are still living. George H. is a practicing physician at Dayton, Ohio. Charles L. was in the insurance business and died January 12, 1895, at the age of forty-three. Their eldest daughter is the wife of S. L. P. Stone, a hardware merchant of Urbana. Their second daughter is the wife of John A. Banta, of Urbana, and the youngest is the wife of J. Howard Patton, of Greensburg, Pennsylvania. His daughter Ida C. resides with her parents at Urbana. Mr. Geiger has fifteen grandchildren living and but one dead. Referring to the career and standing of Judge Geiger in his profession a prominent member of the Champaign county Bar says :
"Judge Geiger has filled an honorable place in the history of Champaign county and this section of the State. He is probably the oldest member now at this Bar and retains his powers of mind and body to a remarkable degree. He is more active than many men of far fewer years and there is no diminution of his mental capacity. For many years he was one of the leading lawyers of this section of the State, and had a large local practice as well as in the higher courts of the State and the Federal courts. The five years spent
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on the Bench of the Court of Common Pleas scattered his practice to some extent, but he probably now has all to which he cares to attend. Judge Geiger is a capable man, but altogether too sturdy and independent in his characteristics to become a popular political leader, a position to which he never aspired. Like most men of thoughtful mien he has a preoccupied manner that might, and often does, leave the impression of indifference to friends and acquaintances ; but nothing is farther from the truth. He is a very companionable man, but not so free in his manner as are some. He hates duplicity and shams. He is a good neighbor, a useful citizen, and a charitable giver for benevolent purposes. The world would be happier and better if all men fulfilled their duties of citizenship as faithfully and as well as has Judge Geiger."
SILAS H. WRIGHT, Lancaster. The subject of this biography was born near Logan, Ohio, June 21, 1830, and died at Lancaster November 18, 1887. At the time of his death Judge Wright had the distinction of being the senior Common Pleas judge of the State in years of service on the Bench. He was in his fifth term when he died, and so great was his popularity with the peo- ple of his district that he would undoubtedly have held the office for many years longer had he been spared to accept the honors his fellow citizens were so ready to confer upon him. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Tanne- hill) Wright, both natives of Ohio, the former of Irish descent and the latter Scotch origin. His paternal ancestors came to America about the middle of the eighteenth century and settled in Pennsylvania. They took an active part in the Revolutionary War and the family here now have in their posses- sion a belt buckle-a relic of the struggle-captured with its owner in one of the battles of the war. The stamp indicates that it belonged to a member of the Tenth Battalion of the British Army, fighting for King George III. Hugh Wright, the great-grandfather of Judge Wright, came to Ohio about the beginning of the present century and settled in Lake county, but soon after purchased a tract of land in the Hocking Valley, near the present site of Logan. His maternal grandfather, Samuel Tannehill, came direct from Scot land and settled in the Hocking Valley; was among the early settlers of that section, and became a prominent citizen. Judge Wright was reared on a farm and his early education was obtained in the common school. Later he entered Greenfield Academy, then a celebrated school, and made famous for all time by the fame of the men who studied there; among whom were James G. Blaine, the Ewings, and John and Tecumseh Sherman. Later he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which he was graduated after taking the full classical course. IIc began the study of law in the early fifties in the office of Judge P. Van Trump, a prominent member of the Hocking Valley Bar. At the age of twenty-six he was admitted to the Bar, but did not at once begin the practice. He made a tour through the settled portions of the west- ern States, on horseback, remaining one year at Muscatine, Iowa. At the solicitation of his friends he returned to Ohio and located at Logan and entered on the practice in partnership with Henry R. Sanders, a capable law-
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yer. In 1856 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Hocking county and was twice re-elected, serving for six years. The four years following his official term he devoted exclusively to private practice, which had grown to large dimensions. In 1866 he was elected Common Pleas judge for the Fifth Sub- division of the Seventh Judicial District. He was re-elected four times in suc- cession and was in the second year of his fifth term when he received the final summons from which there is no appeal. Referring to the characteristics of Judge Wright, one of the oldest attorneys of the Lancaster Bar, said :
"Judge Wright was better known as a jurist than as an attorney. Before he went on the Bench I only knew him by reputation, but came to know him well after his elevation to the judgeship, when he made Lancaster his home. Personally he was one of the most companionable of men ; always genial, an entertaining conversationalist, he created friends wherever he went. The fact that he was elected five times in succession to the Common Pleas Bench in this district was as much an evidence of his personal popularity as it was of his fit- ness for the place. He made a just judge ; equity as well as law was apparent in his decisions. He was well versed in the fundamental principles of the law and this, in connection with his scholarly attainments, fitted him well for the position. His administration of justice gave very general satisfaction to the legal profession and his decisions stood well the test of the higher courts. He was always fair and impartial in his instructions to the jury. His charges were plain, concise and free from error. He was not an orator, but was a pleasant and forceful speaker. He never left the Bench after his first election, and died in the harness shortly after his election for the fifth term. Ilis life was pure and he was held in high esteem both by the Bar and the public."
In politics Judge Wright was a Democrat and before his elevation to the Bench was active in partisan affairs. He was a man of scholarly attainments and general knowledge, gleaned from a wide field of literary reading. Socially he was a charming companion, his conversation was both instructive and enter- taining. While he had a strong love for his profession, bis happiest hours were spent in the family circle and in his well selected library. He was a brilliant writer, a deep thinker and a frequent contributor to the local papers of his district. His writings were generally in the nature of communings with himself, and but few of them found their way into public print. Enough of them, however, were published to show the genius of the man. He enjoyed writing poetry as well as prose. His parody on that beautiful poem, " Wood- man Spare That Tree," which was published in the Hocking Sentinel, and his original poem, " Querela Curele, or Troubles of a Court," published in the Lancaster Saturday Journal, are fair specimens of his writings. Much of his manuscript never published is in the possession of his family. He was an ardent lover of nature and ofttimes spent hours alone in roaming over the hills of Fairfield and Hocking counties in communion with nature and nature's God. The kindness of his disposition was shown in his intercourse with his fellow men. He was invariably courteous and particularly kind to the unfor- tunate. He was a public-spirited citizen and took an active interest in every movement for the public weal. He was widely known, and his death was mourned by a wide circle of friends. The press paid high tribute to his char-
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acter and ability. A prominent citizen in comment says : "When Judge Wright died humanity lost a friend and helper. He was one of the most kind- hearted men it has been my privilege to meet. He had a heart as well as brains, and the cares of his position never caused him to lose sight of the unfor- tunate or the needy. He was not one of those who leave their charities to their executor, he scattered his garlands by his own hand. He was one of the most popular judges that ever sat on the Bench of this district. When he tempered justice with mercy it was in cases where the offense was more appar- ent than real. His judgment of human nature was as accurate as his judg- ment on questions of law and he was not often wrong in either." Judge Wright was married in 1858, to Miss Katherine Moore, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Brice) Moore, of Newark, Ohio. They had four daughters and one son, John M., who is a practicing lawyer. The family home was at Logan until the election of Judge Wright to the Common Pleas Bench, after which it was removed to Lancaster.
OBED W. IRVIN, Dayton. Though a young man, the subject of this sketch " has attained a position in life that would be creditable to a man of greater age. Education to a young man entering a profession is what capital is to the beginner in a business career. The absence of these does not in either case bar a man from making a success of his life work, but the possession of these necessary adjuncts to final success at the threshold of his business or profes- sional life, is to advance their possessor when he would only otherwise be, after years of toil and study, under disadvantageous circumstances. Judge Irvin had the advantage of a well rounded education. His parents, James B. and Ellen S. Irvin, both deceased, were natives of Ohio, and for many years resi- dents of Dayton. Obed W. was born January 12, 1866. In his early training he had the advantage of the excellent school system of his native city. He was destined by his parents for a profession and, after graduating from the Dayton High School, he entered Yale College and was graduated from that institution in 1887. Returning to Dayton, he accepted a position as instructor in the Dayton High School, teaching for four years and reading law at the same time. In 1891 he entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he was graduated the next year. He was admitted to the Bar by the Supreine Court at Columbus, and immediately entered on the practice of his profession in Dayton. With the exception of the time spent at college, his years had all been passed in that city. He was well known and had many influential friends. He was known as a young man of marked ability with a highly trained mind and sterling integrity. Under these circumstances it is not sur- prising that he soon drew around himself a clientage that was respectable in quantity as well as quality. In his political principles he is a Republican, and was elected by his party in 1893 to his present position of judge of Probate of Montgomery county. In this position he has maintained himself well, fully meeting the expectations of his friends and discharging the complicated duties
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of the office to the entire satisfaction of the many with whom the duties bring him in contact. In his manners Judge Irvin is unassuming, easy of approach, courteous and affable in his intercourse with his fellow men. He possesses in an eminent degree that tact which in politicians is termed magnetism, but which when analyzed and defined means good manners and respect for others. He is a bachelor and is as highly esteemed in the social circles of the city for. his capacity to entertain as he is in his profession for his ability. The estimate that is placed on his character and ability and his future prospects by his seniors at the Dayton Bar, is summed up in this statement by one of the ablest members of the Dayton Bar : "Judge Irvin comes of a good family, and for his own achievements deserves the honors that have been placed upon him. He has always been studious in his habits and thorough in his studies. He is of the metal of which safe lawyers are made. He thinks before he acts. Judging from the past, I should say that Judge Irvin will be one of the solid attorneys of the future."
CHARLES W. DUSTIN, Dayton, is judge of the Common Pleas Court, Sec- ond Judicial District. The Dustins were Scotch. They came to America and settled in New Hampshire, while Plymouth Rock was yet young in history. They were agriculturists, and the first historical mention of the family recounts the signal act of bravery of Mrs. Hannah Dustin and Mary Neff, who had been captured by a band of hostile Indians. These two courageous women killed or put to flight a dozen savages with their own weapons, and escaped by rowing down the Merrimac river in the same canoe which had carried them up as prisoners doomed to death by torture. After undergoing perils from capture and wild beasts, from hunger, weariness and ill health, they reached their friends at Haverhill. The incident is fully described in the standard histories, both of the State and the United States. It was an act of individual heroism, and finds few parallels in all the bloody feuds that existed for two hundred years between the pioneer settlers and the aborigines of the country. A study of the family history from colonial times down to the present day shows that they were an industrious, strong-minded, self-reliant race of people, with a liberal tendency toward intellectual pursuits. Charles W. is the son of Doctor M. Dustin a prominent minister of the Cincinnati Conference of the M. E. Church. He was born at Zanesville, Ohio, in 1849. His educational advan- tages were of a superior nature. Home training and good school facilities fitted him for college at an early age. He entered the Ohio Wesleyan Univer- sity at Delaware in 1864, and was graduated in 1868. After leaving school he took a position in Quincy College, at Quincy, Illinois, as professor of mathe- matics, later holding the same position at Brookville College, Brookville, Indiana. Selecting the law as a life vocation, he entered the office of Boltin & Shauck, at Dayton, in 1871. He was admitted to the Bar in 1873 and immediately entered on the practice of his profession. Being a strong Repub- lican in sentiment he soon became quite active in party politics. In 1877 he
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SILAS H. WRIGHT
OBED W. IRVIN
HENDERSON ELLIOTT
CHARLES W. DUSTIN
ROBERT M. NEVIN
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was the nominee of his party for State representative against Charles N. Val- landigham, and, despite the fact that the county was strongly opposite in its voting strength, he came within one hundred votes of being elected. Although he took a great interest in politics, he did not make that his business. His personal popularity drew around him a strong clientage, and he has been num- bered among the successful practitioners since he began practice as a member of the Dayton Bar. He organized the Gem City Building and Loan Associa- tion, now a large and successful financial institution ; was its first attorney, and retained that position until his accession to the Bench. Mr. Dustin is studious in his habits and a close observer of events as well as of men. Believing that the principles of his party represent the best interests of the country, he has always taken an active part in political campaigns. He became the candidate of his party for judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the Second Judicial Dis- trict in 1884, in an overwhelming Democratic subdivision, and received the largest vote cast for any one on the ticket in his county. Following this cam- paign, Mr. Dustin was active in getting a bill through the legislature to restore the sub-judicial Common Pleas District to its original limits, as prescribed by the State constitution. The bill passed both branches, but failed in the Supreme Court, because it had not received a two-thirds vote of the legislature. A similar bill subsequently passed by the required two thirds vote, and as the district so comprised was strongly Republican, it was conceded that in recognition of the splendid work Mr. Dustin had done for his party and his willingness to lend his name for a party advantage, when nothing personal could be gained by it, and his excellent fitness for the position, he should be the candidate to fill the first vacancy that occurred on the Bench in the district. He was, therefore, nominated, and at the November election in 1895 was elected to succeed Judge Dennis Dwyer, whose term expired July, 1896. The judicial subdivision, as now composed, embraces the counties of Montgomery, Green, Warren and Clinton. When the Garfield Club was organized at Dayton Mr. Dustin was chairman of the meeting and the first to sign its constitution. He also took an active part in the formation of the Republican State League; was a mem- ber of the committee for drafting its constitution, and was also a delegate from Ohio to the first meeting of the National Republican Leagne at New York. Judge Dustin has a decided literary taste, and has been a frequent contributor to the press of the city. When he was studying law he edited the law department of the Daily Dayton Journal, and later was editor in chief during the frequent absences of Major Bickman. IIc has traveled extensively both in this country and in Europe, and is an admirer of the beautiful in both nature and art. He was married June 9, 1874, to Alfie M. Hull, in Conners- ville, Ind. Mrs. Dustin died in 1878. In referring to his capabilities for the Bench a prominent practitioner remarks : "Judge-elect Dustin will, I think, make a good judge. IIc is scholarly, studious in his habits, and well grounded in the principles of law. He has considerable literary ability, and his writings arc characterized by graceful style and correct composition. If his opinions are as correct in principle as they are likely to be well written, no one will find
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fault with them. He has a good practice, but is probably better adapted for the Bench than for general practice at the Bar. Mr. Dustin is correct in his habits, and as a citizen he is thoroughly well respected."
ROBERT M. NEVIN, Dayton. Mr. Nevin, a leading practitioner at the Dayton Bar, is of Anglo-Celtic extraction. His father, Robert Nevin, was a native of Ross county, Ohio, whose ancestors came from near Giant's Caus- way, Ireland, and settled in Ross county about the beginning of the present century. He removed to Highland county and became a prominent citizen, and from him Nevin postoffice, Highland county derived its name. His mother, Frances E. Eakins, born and reared in Highland county, was of English descent, her ancestors coming to this country from near Manchester, England. They were among the pioneer settlers of Ohio. Robert M. Nevin, the subject of this sketch, was born May 5, 1850, at the Nevin homestead and about two months after the death of his father, in Highland county. His rudimentary education was obtained in the district common school and he was prepared for college in the high school of Hillsborough. As a boy his marked character istics were habits of industry and quick perceptions. Observing his apprecia- tion of learning, his mother gave him every possible advantage. At the age of fourteen he had finished the high school course and entered the Ohio Wes- leyan University, at Delaware. In 1868 he was graduated from that institu- tion, at the age of eighteen, the youngest in his class, and with few exceptions the youngest alumnus of the university. He took up his legal studies in the office of Conover & Craighead, Dayton, immediately after leaving college, and was admitted to the Bar May 10, 1871, a few days after reaching his majority. The first five years of his practice were alone. In 1876 he entered into partnership with Alvin W. Kumler, under the firm name of Nevin & Kumler, which has continued unbroken to the present time, a period of twenty years, and constitutes the oldest law firm in Dayton. When Mr. Nevin began his professional career there were several men in practice at the Dayton Bar who had attained a national reputation as lawyers and the general standard was very high. Thus the young man, who had barely crossed the demarka- tion line that separated him from his boyhood days, found himself in the com- pany of giants in his calling, against whom he would have to compete if he maintained himself in his profession. The comparison did not discourage him ; it only stimulated his ambition and his efforts. The perseverance and quali- ties of mind that enabled him to quickly assimilate the contents of his text- books soon made him a well informed lawyer, and possessing large natural ability and much acquired talent as a speaker, he did not long remain in obscurity. He is purely a lawyer. His profession is his ambition, and his energies have been devoted to the interests of his clients. During the twenty- five years of practice at the Montgomery county Bar he has risen steadily, until he now stands in the front rank, not only at the Dayton Bar, but in that
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section of the State. He has never permitted his name to be used as a nomi- nee for any elective office but once, and that was in the line of his profession and at the earnest solicitation of his party. He was nominated for prosecu- ting attorney on the Republican ticket in 1887 against the Honorable John M. Sprigg, an able lawyer who had held the office for successive terms, and in the judgment of his party, was invincible. Mr. Nevin was elected by a major- ity of eight hundred votes, in a strong Democratic county, and the first Republican had been elected to the office since the memorable days of the war. Being a strong believer in the principles of the Republican party, and a good public speaker, he has naturally become prominent in the councils of his party. In 1892 he was one of the alternates at large of the Republican national con- vention at Minneapolis, and upon Governor Mckinley becoming permanent chairman of that convention, Mr. Nevin took his place in the Ohio delegation. In practice he is prominent as a trial lawyer. He has not confined his read- ing to his text books ; his mind has been enriched by much knowledge gained in many fields of literature and science, which gives him a breadth and scope and power which the narrower pleader whose knowledge is confined to legal studies, never acquires. In the preparation of his cases he is thorough, and in summing up before a jury is logical, argumentative and forceful, rather than persuasive. As a public speaker he is clear and concise and presents his ideas in well chosen language. There is a social side to his nature and as an after- dinner speaker he is much in demand. Mr. Nevin is somewhat reserved in his manners-as deep thinkers usually are-but is by no means unsociable. He has been a close student both of nature and books. He possesses a mind of great natural vigor and strength, which is trained to its highest capacity by study, reading and thought. He has the useful faculty of focusing his mind on the subject before him and the ability to express his conclusions in a clear and convincing manner. In his twenty-five years of practice he has built up a business that is large and remunerative. Mr. Nevin is a useful citizen as well as an able lawyer. In movements that affect public weal he always takes an active interest and is one of the public spirited citizens of the city. He was married November 7, 1871, to Miss Emma Reasoner of Dresden, Musk- ingum county, Ohio. Four children have been born to thiem ; two sons and two daughters, all of whom are living.
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