USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 47
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resenting the St. Louis, Alton and Terre Haute. Mr. Justice Miller, who was then probably the ablest jurist on the Supreme Bench, sustained the conten- tion of Judge Burke in a very elaborate opinion, which was concurred in by seven members of the court, only two dissenting (U. S. Reports 118, pp. 290 et seq.). Another branch of the case was argued by the same counsel in March, 1888, and decided in April following, Mr. Justice Matthews delivering the opinion for the court. (U. S. Reports 125, pp. 658 et seq.) These cases involved close and intricate questions which had not been before adjudi- cated, and material interests of a million and a quarter dollars. McGourkey vs. Toledo and Central Ohio Railroad Company (U. S. Reports 146, pp. 536 et seq.), was another case involving equally nice distinctions of law and vast material interests. Judge Burke represented the appellee in the Supreme Court, as he had been counsel of the plaintiff in the Circuit, and was success- ful. The opposing counsel representing the defendant corporation were ex- Governor George Hoadly and Fisher A. Baker. The case was argued in the Supreme Court in November, 1892, and decided the following month. The opinion of the court, seven justices concurring, was delivered by Mr. Justice Brown and filled twenty-five printed pages of the reports. Another celebrated case was one growing out of the consolidation of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway with the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Day- ton. It was argued on one side by Honorable Benjamin HI. Bristow, of New York, Aaron F. Perry, of Cincinnati, and George K. Nash, of Columbus, then attorney general of Ohio ; on the other side by Judge Harrison, of Columbus, Judge Glidden, of Cincinnati, Judges Ranney and Burke, of Cleveland. Judge Burke had little time for preparation, but his argument in the case was great. It was concise, severely logical and directed to the questions at issue. The consensus of opinion of the lawyers who listened to him is that for clear, close, legal reasoning, and effective delivery, the argument is entitled to rank with any ever delivered before the Supreme Court of Ohio. A case which attracted attention, at least throughout the State of Ohio, was that brought to deter- mine the constitutionality of the Scott liquor law, and argued in the Supreme Court by McDougall, of Cincinnati ; Judge Ranney, of Cleveland, and Judge West, of Bellefontaine, supporting the law ; and by Judge Burke, of Cleveland, E. W. Kittredge and J. W. Warrington, of Cincinnati, in opposition. The Law Bulletin, of Cincinnati and Columbus, in its issue of June, 1884, says :
"The argument of Judge Burke, of Cleveland, who represented Butzman and Mueller in the Cleveland Scott law case, was undoubtedly one of the finest efforts ever heard in the hall of the Supreme Court, where have been heard so many of the great arguments of eminent lawyers who ornamented the Bar of Ohio in the last half century. He speaks rapidly, but with great distinctness being easily heard throughout the hall of the Supreme Court, so distinguished for its bad acoustics. There is little merely oratorical and ornamental in his speech, but his language is to the point and is noted for its clearness, compact- ness and plain English. His repartee is remarkably quick and sharp. Whenever interrupted by questions and remarks from the court or counsel, he was not only found immediately ready, but never failed to turn the point so
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as to make it a strong one in his favor. It seems certainly bad policy for his adversaries to interrupt him with questions or remarks. From what we heard we would think it much safer for opposing counsel to keep quiet and let him have his say. Listening to his argument on the constitutionality of the clause of the Scott law requiring the written consent of the lessor to the carrying on of the traffic on the premises by the lessee, as being within the constitu- tional inhibition of license under the definition given to the word ' license' by the Supreme Court in the Hipp and Frame cases, we considered it almost unan- swerable, and were not surprised when the court decided that question in his favor. It would be a great treat for the Bar of Cincinnati to hear Judge Burke argue a great case in one of their courts. He would remind them of Senator Pugh, whom he, in many respects, resembles."
The penetration and intellectual power of Judge Burke, in discerning the niceties of the law and in the elucidation of obscure questions raised for the first time, are great ; his resources in the trial of a case are marvellous. He is cool, self-possessed, quick to see the relevancy and the importance of testi- mony, keen and persistent in the cross-examination of witnessess. A reluct- ant witness gives up the truth almost unconsciously in response to the searching questions of the lawyer. No evasion is effective; no effort at con- cealment escapes detection. Judge Burke is possessed of the power of as- similation which apropriates to his own growth and advantage all his reading and knowledge, however acquired. It becomes a part of himself, available on demand. This rare capacity augments his power as a trial lawyer and must be considered in estimating the sources of his strength. He knows the principles of the law and the rules of construction ; and pos- sesses in a conspicuous degree the logical faculty of applying the rules to a given case. His genius takes hold of known principles and applies them to new questions. In a legal argument he imparts to the court full and accurate knowledge of his case with courage and force. The qualities which most deeply impress a jury in his advocacy are clearness of statement, forceful presenta- tion of the facts and readiness in questions suddenly raised. He is always
quick with a responsive answer, and his repartee attests his thorough mastery of the subject. Although this biography is intended especially to represent the professional side of Judge Burke, it would be manifestly incomplete without a brief reference to his executive ability and organizing faculty, as exhibited in his grasp of the involved problems of business and the man- agement of railroad properties. He is one of the few men who can be great in commercial affairs without detracting from his greatness as a law- yer. For many years he was general counsel for the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis Railway Company; was a member of its directory, and for several years vice-president and afterwards president ; chairman of its finance and executive committees. He was the general counsel of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad Company fifteen years; has been its president since 1880, and for twenty-five years, as attorney, has represented the owners of all the stock. He has filled the offices of vice- president and president of the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad Company. In June, 1881, he entered into negotiations with the president and others inter-
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ested in the Columbus and Hocking Valley, the Ohio and West Virginia and the Columbus and Toledo railroads, which terminated on the 16th of that month in his agreement to purchase the entire capital stock of the three roads for himself and associates, at a cost of $7,000,000. This gave him control of the railroads carrying coal from the Hocking Valley fields, in which he already had large holdings and in which his possessions were immensely increased soon afterwards. In 1885 he acquired control of the new line of the Ohio Central running from Toledo to Corning, the center of the coal field, with a branch to Columbus, giving in exchange a small percentage of the stock of the Colum- bus, Hocking Valley and Toledo Company. To consumate this exchange he was obliged to make contracts with nearly all of the eight hundred stockhold- ers of the Toledo and Ohio Central Company. He purchased for William H. Vanderbilt the New York, Chicago and St. Louis road, commonly knows as the "Nickel Plate." The negotiations, lasting nearly three months, were conducted with perfect secrecy by Judge Burke, only three men besides him- self-Mr. Vanderbilt, General Devereux and Augustus Schell-having a hint of it before its final consummation, October 26, 1882. The contracts were executed in Judge Burke's name, and, so far as the venders knew, the property was purchased for his associates and himself. The amount of money entrusted to him and paid out in that transaction was somewhat over seven million dollars. In speaking of this subject, a leading railroad man of Cleveland said : " There have been, up to this time, built in this country three parallel and competing lines of railroad. The New York Central has been paralleled by the New York, West Shore and Buffalo ; the Lake Shore was paralleled by the New York, Chicago and St. Louis ; the Columbus, Hocking Valley and Toledo was paralleled by the Ohio Central; and it has been Judge Burke's fortune to purchase and absorb two of these new lines, the 'Nickel Plate' and the Ohio Central. For many years he represented, as attorney, three-fourths of the stock of the Shenango and Allegheny Railroad Company and the Mercer Mining and Manufacturing Company, two large and important corporations in Pennsylvania. He was also a director in each and was offered a choice of all their offices. For two years or more he was a director of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton, of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Indianapolis Railroad Company, which position he resigned in 1885. He has been for a number of years a member of the directorate of the Central Ontario Railway Company and is now its president. He holds a similar position in numerous mining and manufacturing companies."
Judge Burke is great in constructive ability ; great in his versatility. He is remarkable alike for his vitality and the elasticity of his nature. He is gen- erous in disposition, always ready to assist a worthy man or a worthy cause. He is always approachable and thoroughly democratic. His convictions are strong. He supports the Republican party, but has always been too busy to desire public office. He is both a scholar and a thinker, familiar with a wide range of literature and thoroughly informed on subjects with which he is con- cerned. He was married April 26, 1849, to Miss Parthenia Poppleton, of Richland county, who died in 1878. June 22, 1882, he was married to Mrs. Ella M. Southworth, of Clinton, New York. He believes in the sanctity of home and finds in the family relation the truest happiness.
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JAMES H. DEMPSEY, Cleveland. J. H. Dempsey was born at Shelby, Ohio, on March 29, 1859. His father, who was a native of Ireland, and brought to America and to Ohio when a boy, for a number of years engaged in the wholesale grocery business. His mother was Martha C. Davis, a native of this State, whose father came here from Howard county, Maryland, shortly after the close of the war of 1812, in which he had taken an active part. When a mere boy young Dempsey's father selected the profession of law for him. His early education was in the district schools and the academy of his native town. At nineteen he entered Kenyon College, graduating in the class of 1882. He then entered the Law Department of Columbia College, New York, where he remained one year. Coming to Cleveland he entered the law. office of Estep, Dickey & Squire, where he completed his law education and in 1886 became a member of the firm. He continued his membership of the firm until 1890, when he withdrew and the present partnership of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey was formed. Few men at the Bar of Cleveland have attained distinction so young. He is a man of force and ability. In politics he is a Republican ; has never held office. In September, 1885, he married Emma N. Bourne, daughter of Mr. E. H. Bourne, cashier of the Union National Bank, and by this union there were three children, a daughter, deceased, and two sons. Mrs. Dempsey died on March 14, 1893.
MORTIMER D. LEGGETT, Cleveland. It would be difficult to find a better example of what an earnest, honest, intelligent American boy can make of himself, working upon his own merits and grasping every opportunity, than the life and work of General Mortimer Leggett. Starting with practically nothing but a good physical constitution, a high moral sense, and a brain active and clear, he reached as high a place in the hearts of his fellow men in the communities in which he lived as one can attain outside of public office. Mor- timer D. Leggett came directly from Quaker ancestry, both on the part of his father and his mother. He was the son of Isaac and Mary Strong Leggett, born April 19, 1821, at Ithaca, New York. His father was a farmer and young Mortimer led the life of the ordinary farmer's boy. In 1836 the family removed to Montville, Geauga county, Ohio, where he resided with his parents until eighteen years of age. Up to this time he had worked hard on the farm, developing a physique which enabled him to endure great trials in the army and many years of hard mental labor. He was naturally fond of study and most of his leisure time was devoted to his books. In these early efforts to get an education he was directed and assisted by his parents. In his boy- hood days young Leggett was greatly helped by his elder sister, a woman of marked intelligence, high purposes and most unusual self-education. He never forgot his obligation to this older sister, whose advice and active loving help furnished for him the foundation for success in after years. At eighteen he entered the Teachers' Academy at Kirtland, where he completed the course of
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study and was graduated at the head of his class. He at once devoted himself to teaching, although he had for some time determined upon the law as his profession. By teaching he acquired the means to support himself while studying for his profession. He was often heard to say later in life that no work was so helpful to a lawyer as that of teaching ; it requires the greatest care in studying to express one's ideas clearly : it develops quickness in esti- mating the mental caliber of the person to whom one is speaking ; it marvel- ously cultivates one's patience, which is invaluable to the lawyer, and he would add with a merry twinkle of the eye, "you quite often have to teach the court." General Leggett's work in the class room was most successful from the very beginning. He at once manifested his pre-eminent ability as an instructor. He assiduously studied law as he could get time between school hours and from school work, and was duly admitted to practice in 1844. He did not actively enter upon his profession until some six years after. He devoted himself meanwhile to raising a popular feeling among the people of the State in favor of free schools, stumping the State with Dr. A. D. Lord, Loren Andrews and M. F. Cowdry, for the establishing of common schools, paying his own expenses. General Leggett found time to study medicine, taking the regular course of study at the Willoughby Medical College, from which he took the degree of M. D. in 1846. His work with those who were interested in the school question resulted in what is known as the Akron school law, and in the fall of 1846 General Leggett went to Akron to live and organized the first system of graded schools west of the Allegheny mountains. He remained there two years until the graded system had been thoroughly tested and proven a success, when he removed to Warren and there arranged a similar system. His success at the Bar was rapid. His reputation as a man at once brought him a clientage, and the trial of a few cases manifested his capacity and shrewdness as a lawyer. For the times and the condition of Ohio he became prominent in his profession. Whatever might be General Leggett's work or especial trend of thought at any time, he at once became an instructor in that work. He had a gift for teaching, devel- oped by a love of it, and in 1856 he was made professor of equity juris- prudence and of pleading and practice at the Ohio Law College. In 1857 he removed to Zanesville where his reputation had preceded bim, and where his practice became more extended. Here he also had general supervision of the public schools, which his experience and advanced thought greatly improved in discipline and instruction. He was a personal friend of General George B. McClellan, who at the opening of the war was commissioned Major-General of Ohio volunteers, and was placed in command of the Department of the Ohio, which comprised the States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and the western portions of Pennsylvania and Virginia. He attached himself as a volunteer aid without pay to General Mcclellan, and accompanied him in his campaign in Western Virginia, where he was in several engagements. He was soon convinced the war could not be " a ninety-day affair," and returning to Zanes- ville was soon commissioned by Governor Dennison to raise and organize the
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Seventy-Eighth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. "Mortimer D. Leggett" was the first name on the roll, volunteering as a private soldier. His patriotism and his enthusiastic devotion to the cause were contagious. Men rushed to place their names upon the roll of the regiment. His unceasing energy and tireless effort bore immediate fruit, for in the short period of forty days he had raised a regiment of 1,040 men. Meantime he had risen from a private to the rank of colonel, passing successively through the grades of second-lieutenant, first-lieutenant, captain, major and lieutenant-colonel. Colonel Leggett at once reported for duty with his regiment to General Grant at Fort Donelson, arriving in time to take an active part in the siege and capture of that strong- hold. The discipline and conduct of himself and regiment attracted the attention and commendation of General Grant, which was the beginning of a personal intimacy between the two, lasting through life. Colonel Leggett was the youngest colonel in command of a regiment at Donelson, and in due appreciation of his services General Grant attached him to his personal staff. On the field of Shiloh he discharged his responsible duties with great courage; was wounded, but did not leave the field. He led the command at Corinth and had a horse killed under him. His bravery here was recognized by a brigadier general's commission. At Middlebury, Tennes- see, with five hundred soldiers he defeated General Van Dorn with four thousand, through consummate strategic skill. For this he received honorable mention by General Grant, and a letter of thanks from Secretary Stanton. In all subsequent battles he was brave and deliberate. He took part in the siege of Vicksburg, was wounded at Iuka ; commanded the expedition against Mon- roeville, Louisiana : was with Sherman in his raid to Meridian, and entered the Atlanta campaign as commander of the Seventeenth Corps, in the absence of General Blair. July 21, 1864, in pursuance of an order of General McPher- son, General Leggett took a strongly fortified hill, after a desperate struggle, and captured a number of prisoners almost equal to the number of soldiers in his command. All through the following day, the memorable 22nd of July, he held this position against fearful odds and repeated terrific assaults. For this he was commissioned major general, on the recommendation of General Sherman. He marched with General Sherman to the sea ; was in the final review. Throughout the war he secured the love and respectful obedience of subordinates, the confidence and esteem of superiors. After the final sur- render he was mustered out of the service and returned to Zanesville, where he resumed the practice of law. HIe invariably declined to enter actively into politics and allow himself to be nominated for office, although never failing to take an earnest and active interest in political affairs. He accepted, at the hands of President Grant, the office of commissioner of patents, early in 1871. If his previous training had not prepared him for the office the versatility of intellect and quick adaptability to his surroundings enabled him to fill the position with great credit to himself and with equal credit to the patent office. He instituted the binding for general distribution of certified copics of the specifications and drawings of letters patent issucd, the first volume of which
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containing his certificate, bears date May 30, 1871. These volumes may now be found from that date to the present time in every public library in the United States. He practically founded the "Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office," a publication issued every week containing a list of patents issued with drawings and descriptions. In 1875 General Leggett resigned and removed to Cleveland, when he again entered upon the practice of law, making patent law a specialty and becoming one of the most promi- nent patent attorneys in the country. Later General Leggett became person- ally interested in many commercial enterprises of local interest and import- ance, the most prominent of which was the Brush Electric Company. In 1880, he became a member of the board of education of Cleveland, and later he was chosen a member of the board of managers of the Cleveland Public Library, in both of which he rendered valuable service. In 1888, he was appointed a mem- ber of the Cuyahoga Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Association by Gov- ernor Foraker. The monument now standing in the public square of Cleve- land speaks for those who worked for its production. The form and features of General Leggett are immortalized there in bronze. General Leggett died January 6, 1896, and this sketch is fittingly closed in a few words from the memorial address by his intimate friend and pastor: " His great heart reached out and took in the whole world. He loved his friends. Without demonstra- tion and without pretense, there was in his manner a transparent affection for those with whom he was intimate. There was nothing narrow or limited about his religion. He was broad and progressive in that as in everything else."
SCOTT BONHAM, Cincinnati. One of the most capable of the younger . members of the Bar and most energetic members of the Board of Legislation of the city is Mr. Scott Bonham. Mr. Bonham is a native Buckeye. His birthplace was Midway, Madison county, and his initial birthday January 25, 1858. His parents, William J. and Letitia Hays Bonham, were born in Ohio, the former in Highland and the latter in Fayette county. His mother is still living ; his father died in 1895. They were descended from old Scotch-Irish stock. Mr. Bonham was educated in the village schools of Midway, in Bloom- ingburg Institute, and in the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. He was graduated from the university in the class of 1882, comprising fifty-four members, receiving the degree of A. B. When but fifteen years of age young Bonham began to help himself to an education by teaching school. At inter- vals in the four years, while engaged in fitting himself for college, and while in college, he taught the young idea how to shoot the way he was shooting. For one year after graduation he was principal of the schools at West Unity, Ohio. Then he entered upon a law course in the University of Virginia, and took his degree of LL.B. in the class of 1885 at the Cincinnati Law School, taking the full course. In college Mr. Bonham was the freshman class orator on Washington's birthday in 1878, and in the junior discussion in 1881
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Scott Boubaw.
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debated with S. M. Taylor, ex-secretary of the State of Ohio, the merits and demerits of Greek letter fraternities. He was a member of the editorial staff of the college paper, and was selected by the Cincinnati Law School in 1885 to represent his class in forensic debate. Admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court May 26, 1885, he at once opened an office in the Esplanade Building, and later moved into a suite of rooms in Lincoln Inn Court, 519 Main street. In 1893 he was admitted to practice in the United States Court. He is a general practitioner in civil and commercial law, both in the State and Federal courts, and is the attorney for numerous building associations and other corporations. Mr. Bonham is a staunch Republican. He was a delegate to the Ohio Republican State Convention, from Williams county, in 1883, delegate to the Hamilton county Republican Convention in 1889, again to the Ohio State Convention in 1890, and again to the State Conventions in 1894, 1896 and 1897, besides taking an active part as a delegate in nearly all local Republi- can conventions, both city and county, that have been held in the last few years. As a Republican candidate he was elected a member of the Board of Legislation of Cincinnati for the short term under the new charter, April 6, 1891, was re- elected by an increased majority in 1892, and again in 1894, when his last in- creased majority was nearly doubled, and in 1897 was re-elected for another term of three years. His first majority was forty ; second, one hundred and eighty- two ; third, three hundred and fifty-four, and last one-hundred and eighteen. Thus it will be seen Mr. Bonham has been able to reverse the usual custom of cutting down the majorities of members of legislative bodies as they come up for approval. He is now serving as president of the Board of Legislation to which he was elected in April, 1897. He is a member of the Young Men's Blaine Club, of the Lincoln Club and the Butterworth Club. He was elected president of the Lincoln Club in 1897. From 1889 to 1891 he was president of the Glee Club of the Young Men's Blaine Club. He is somewhat fond of the military, and is sergeant of Troop B Cavalry, Ohio National Guard. He is also president of the Cincinnati Cavalry Club, organized in November, 1893, in the interests of Troop B, and for social purposes. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in college, and became a Mason in 1879. He has been master of La Fayette Lodge one term. He is a member of the Cincinnati Commandery, Knights Templar, and is a 32nd degree Scottish Rite Mason. He is also a member of the Second Presbyterian Church. Mr. Bonham is a bachelor, and occupies bachelor's quarters at 1039 Wesley Avenue. A Cincinnati judge furnished the following estimate: "Scott Bonham's honesty is well recognized and his professional word is taken and accepted by his brethren at the Bar. He is known as being painstaking, earnest and faithful on behalf of his clients. He enjoys a large clientage and a lucrative practice. He has been a useful public citizen ; not even his adversaries question his integrity." A prominent member of the Bar says : " Scott Bonham is a good lawyer and a capable man in every way, and above all he is a modest, honest and conscientious man. As a lawyer he has been successful and has a great deal of business and a large clientage. He takes an
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