USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 48
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active interest in public affairs, and is now president of the Board of Legisla- tion. In the matter of granting franchises he made quite a reputation for him- self for the bold stand he took against the monopolies. In the Board of Legislation he was recognized as the champion of the people as against the effort of the corporations which were attempting to secure the monopoly of franchises-for electric lighting and other purposes. In his private relations he is very popular and well liked, and is blessed with one of the brightest and happiest dispositions of any man I ever knew."
NELSON B. LUTES, Tiffin. Nelson B. Lutes was born March 1, 1848, in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, the son of Stephen and Hannah Jayne Lutes. On his mother's side he is of Puritan descent, and traces his lineage back to William Jayne I, a Puritan preacher, who was born in Bristol, Eng- land, January 25, 1618; emigrated to New England, died March 24, 1714, and was buried in the old Puritan graveyard at Suffold, Long Island. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, of Welsh and German extraction. His parents are both dead. Mr. Lutes was reared on the old homestead farm and received in boyhood such limited educational advantages as were afforded in the county district schools. At the age of sixteen, March 21, 1864, he enlisted in the army as a member of Company D, 188th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served in the army of the James through the memorable campaign of 1864-5. He was honorably discharged June 21, 1865, on surgeon's certificate of disability, and was, indeed, almost a complete physical wreck. After return- ing from the Army he attended school about two years, and then spent one year in teaching ; but his education, which is liberal and comprehensive, has been very largely self-acquired under private tutelage since he entered the profession of law. Mr. Lutes pursued his professional studies in the law office of W. P. & H. Noble, at Tiffin. It was there he first met his wife, who as Miss Nettie Cronise, was a fellow student in the same office. Mr. Lutes and Miss Cronise were admitted to the Bar in the same class in April, 1873, and were united in marriage at Tiffin, August 24, 1874. Upon his admission to the Bar Mr. Lutes was taken into partnership by his preceptors, and the firm name was changed to Noble Brothers & Lutes. He was thus enabled imme- diately to acquire one of the largest practices in the county. After an exist- ence of one year this firm was dissolved by the withdrawal of Honorable W. P. Noble, and a partnership was formed by and between Judge Harrison Noble and Mr. Lutes, under the firm name of Noble & Lutes. This firm continued with a large and increasing practice until 1880, when by reason of his infirmity of hearing it became necessary for Mr. Lutes to have the assist- ance of his wife in the trial of his cases. The partnership with Judge Noble "was thereupon dissolved, and since that time the practice has been continued by the husband and wife under the firm name of Lutes & Lutes. In con- sequence of sickness and exposure in the army, resulting in chronic catarrhal
The Century Publishing & Engraving Co. Chicago.
Mettre C. Lutes.
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MalsonBohater
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inflammation of the eustachian tube and middle ear, Mr. Lutes has entirely lost the sense of hearing. The progress of the disease was slow and the loss of hearing gradual. As early as 1870 it was first noticed by him, but the deaf- ness did not become total until 1881. Owing to the peculiar qualifications of his wife and the wonderful facility with which she keeps him informed during the progress of a trial, the infirmity does not materially interfere with the success of his law practice. All of his remaining senses are more acute in con- sequence of the loss of one. His ability as a lawyer is unquestioned by any lawyer who has opposed him in the trial of a cause. He is a profound student, careful in the preparation of pleadings, strong in argument before court or jury, and altogether very successful in practice. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, the G. A. R, and the Junior O. U. A. M., and of no other society whatever. He has never held public office. Mr. and Mrs. Lutes have three children: Elinor Seney, born June 4, 1875, Evelyn Latta, born June 27, 1877 ; Lillian Cronise, born August 8, 1882. Honorable Warren P. Noble adds a brief characterization :
" I have known Nelson B. Lutes from the time he commenced the study of his profession as intimately as any member of the Bar. I can say of him that as a man he is possessed of a good mind and a splendid physical make-up in almost every particular. He is above the ordinary size, straight, tall and erect, with an easy and dignified carriage, and finely chiseled features. He is a man to attract attention in any company. As a lawyer he is one of the most able, careful, painstaking and zealous of the profession in this part of the State. Whilst it seems as though he came to his conclusions naturally, without effort, and correctly, yet he never fails to know from a most thorough examina- tion of the books just what has been held and decided by the higher courts upon the questions he has under consideration, nor does he fail to find out the teachings of the elementary writers upon the same subjects, and in these researches his industry and energy are untiring. In his intercourse with his fellow members of the Bar he is always kind, courteous and generous. No person ever calls in question his integrity. If in the heat of debate he is ever led to say or do anything that even seems to be unkind toward a fellow lawyer, no one can be more ready and willing to at once ungrudgingly ask pardon and make the best possible amends. I say, in short, that Mr. Lutes may be set down as one of the best lawyers to be found in this part of the State."
NETTIE C. LUTES, Tiffin. Mrs. Nettie (Cronise) Lutes is " to the manner born." She is a daughter of one of the first families of Tiffin. Her grandfather, Honorable Henry Cronise, was a Virginian, a gentleman of the old school, and a man of great prominence and influence, who fills a large and honorable place in the history of the city and county. He was one of the leading mer- chants of the city for many years, and by his influence and public-spiritedness did much toward the building up and advancement of the city. He was a Democrat in politics, and very influential in his party councils, and served one term in the Ohio Senate, being elected to that body in 1846. Mrs. Lutes is one of the most thoroughly educated women of the State, and was the
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first woman admitted to the Ohio Bar. She was educated in the public schools of the city, and at Heidelberg College; and also took a special course in the State Normal School at Bloomington, Illinois, where she received that special training in phonics which has been of such incalculable value to her in communicating with her husband by means of visible speech. She read law in the office of W. P. & H. Noble, at Tiffin, and was admitted to the Bar in April, 1873, on the recommendation of a committee composed of George E. Seney, John McCauley, R. G. Pennington, W. H. Gibson and Nelson L. Brewer, who, with her preceptors, were the leaders of the Bar at that time. This was before the law was passed by the State Legislature authoriz- ing the admission of women to the Bar, and after Mrs. Bradwell had been refused admission in Illinois, and the question was naturally raised as to her right to be admitted, with the majority of the court inclined to the opinion that women were not eligible for admission to the Bar in the State. Judge Seney and other eminent lawyers offered their services to present her case to the court, which she declined, and taking charge of her own case, by the force of her own character and learning, she succeeded in convincing the court of her right to be admitted, thus opening the door for admission of women to the Bar of this State. Her admission to the Bar was taken favor- ably. Her sister, Miss Florence Cronise, was admitted in the following year, and both of them were admitted to practice in the United States Courts, in the Sixth Circuit, at Toledo, in 1879. As the pioneer woman lawyer of this State, Mrs. Lutes, then Miss Nettie Cronise, opened her office at Tiffin, and entered upon the practice of her chosen profession immediately upon her admission to the Bar, and has ever since been actively engaged in the practice in her native city, with remarkable success. For the last seventeen years she has practiced with her husband, Nelson B. Lutes, under the firm name of Lutes & Lutes. Mrs. Lutes possesses the qualifications neces- sary for the success in the profession of the law in a marked degree. Her knowledge of the law is profound and her judgment good. She is broad- minded and liberal in her views, clear, analytical, exact and logical in her mental make-up ; she has the faculty of examining a question in all of its bearings, the power lacking in so many ; of looking on both sides of a ques- tion, with a perception so quick that nothing seems to escape her notice during the progress of a trial. She is a great student and an indefatigable worker ; has undaunted courage and great staying powers, with an abiding faith that the right must prevail, and she never advocates a proposition that she does not believe is right. She has good business tact and extraordinary executive ability, with the power to lead others to her way of thinking, and is so good a reader of human nature that she seems intuitively to read a person's thoughts and divine his motive of action. Mrs. Lutes also possesses the most perfect self-control, and never loses her head or becomes confused during the most exciting contest, and with her perfect mastery of language, her knowledge of the power of words, her repartee and sarcasam, though always refined and often classical, is as cutting as a two-edged sword; and with it she possesses
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the power of lashing her opponent to fury and exasperation, while she remains apparently as cool and undisturbed as a disinterested spectator. She rarely, if ever, uses this power, however, except in self-defense. One dose of it is usually sufficient, and the recipient seldom returns to the second attack. Much of her courage and power is founded in her absolute fidelity to honor and truth. She puts truth and right above all other considerations and would scorn to take an unfair advantage. This is recognized and acknowl- edged by all, and of itself begets confidence in any proposition maintained by her. Though herself a fine and effective speaker, thoroughly trained in the art of oratory, by reason of her determination that her husband should not be shorn of his power and strength as a lawyer because of. his deafness, her voice is seldom heard in argument either to the court or jury. Though taking a leading part, and largely managing the conduct of all of the cases tried by the firm, few persons understand or appreciate the masterful power exerted by Mrs. Lutes in the trial of a case ; for to the unthinking spectator it looks as though Mr. Lutes were taking the leading part, while the fact is, that by reason of his deafness, their professional labors are so intermingled and closely connected that there is no leadership about it, and, as has often been remarked, it is almost impossible to consider them separately, as the two work together almost as one person. Their manner of conducting a trial is so peculiar that it is hard to describe, and has little similarity to the professional labors of other attorneys in the trial of a case. That it results in a most masterful handling of all cases tried by the firm is recognized and acknowl- edged by all competent persons who ever saw them conduct a trial, and it is probable that by reason of the peculiar position occupied by Mrs. Lutes, she receives much less, and Mr. Lutes much more, of the credit than they are respect- ively entitled to. It may be said that necessity and practice have developed what might well be called a sixth sense in both of them-in Mrs. Lutes the power to receive and convey, to listen and talk at the same time, and in Mr. Lutes the power to hear with his eyes quicker and more accurately than the most sensitive ear, as much quicker as light travels faster than sound. Their important cases are thoroughly prepared together, each having taken part in making the brief and examining the witnesses out of court. They come into court both of one mind, with their case thoroughly prepared. They know what they have to present; have settled upon the manner of its presentation and have anticipated as far as possible, and prepared to meet the case made by the other side. If a jury case, the panel has been carefully examined, and if the jurors are unknown their character, antecedents and characteristics have been looked up as far as possible, and the jurors are carefully examined on their voir dire. Mr. Lutes makes the opening statement of the case to the court and jury ; examines and cross-examines the witnesses as they are produced, interposes objections to evidence, and argues questions of law to the court as to the admission and rejection of evidence, as they occur during the trial. How is this possible when it is known that he is stone deaf, and what has Mrs. Lutes
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been doing all this time? A person looking on, who did not know that Mr. Lutes was deaf, would not readily discover that fact, or clearly understand the part taken by Mrs. Lutes, as shown by an incident which occurred in the trial of a case not long since in the Circuit Court of Clermont county, in the southern part of the State, where Mr. and Mrs. Lutes were strangers. An old gentleman, an habitue of the court room, was sitting in the audience room looking on at the trial. At the noon recess he came forward and quite indignantly inquired of a member of the local Bar with whom he was acquainted, why the court allowed that woman to sit in front of that lawyer and talk to him and thus interrupt him during the whole time he was trying the case. Mrs. Lutes sits facing Mr. Lutes, and if a jury trial, also facing the jury, and repeats, by the motion of the organs of speech, without the least sound or whisper, every word that is spoken by the witnesses, judge and opposing counsel, on the instant the words leave the mouth of the speaker, so that Mr. Lutes gets it all as quickly as any other person in the room. This is not all she has been doing. As the case progresses she takes notes of all new points brought out in the evidence, and finds time to communicate her views thereon to Mr Lutes. Her eye is constantly on the jury and opposing counsel, and her quick perception and knowledge of human nature are brought into active play. New points are anticipated and conveyed to Mr. Lutes to be guarded against. The effect the evidence is producing on the minds of the different jurors is carefully noted, and also conveyed to Mr. Lutes. She also draws and answers all the cross-fire, side remarks and repartee of opposing counsel, thus leaving Mr. Lutes wholly undisturbed and without the fear of surprise, to present the case as prepared, and combat the case made by the other side. Thus her part in the trial of the case might be likened to the signal corps, cavalry branch, sharpshooters and skirmish line of an army in the field, and she is to Mr. Lutes in the trial of a case what Sheridan was to Grant in the capture of Lee's army. When it comes to the argument of the case, she in like manner repeats to Mr. Lutes every word of the argument of opposing counsel to be answered, and suggests to him the answer to the points made which occur to her. Neither of them takes any notes of the evidence during the trial, and necessity and practice have developed still another remarkable faculty in Mr. Lutes, that is, to take his notes by mental process, and the power to retain in his memory all of the important and material evi- dence, so that he can repeat much of it word for word in the argument of the case. As the evidence is given he carefully notes its materiality and import- ance and arranges it in his mind in the order in which he desires to present it in support of his argument, and there it remains, under proper classification, and in clear and logical order, indellibly impressed upon his mind until he wants to use it in his argument, and he has no fragmentary and imperfectly taken notes to be hunted up, arranged, overlooked or forgotten, when he comes to argue the case. If lawyers generally understood the advantage to be gained by learning to take their notes by the mental process, few notes would ever be taken with pencil, but it is impossible for any man to retain his
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CharlesTheodore Ering
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notes in his mind so long as he allows himself to depend upon his written notes. That the faculty can be acquired is clearly shown in the case of Mr. Lutes, for while he never takes any notes it is generally recognized that he has a superior and especially aceurate command of the evidence in argument. As the result of their joint labors, they have the reputation of being very success- ful lawyers and of never losing a case which they ought to win, and in eonse- quence their practice is comparatively large, and their retainers are largely in the most important eases, not only in their own county but to a considerable extent in other courts of the State, and occasionally in the United States courts and the courts of adjoining States. So_ engrossed is Mrs. Lutes in her life's work and her studies and reading that she gives but little of her time to social functions, though by right of birth, as well as by her personal accomplishments, she occupies the highest social rank in the eity. She is an exceptionally fine conversationalist, and a very entertaining and lovable eom- panion, an ideal wife and most devoted mother. She has three beautiful daughters, of whose reputation for unusual brightness and intelligence she is especially proud. Her husband, for whom she has done so much, very natur- ally idolizes her, and in their life, these two lawyers seem to have realized the inspired lines of the poet :
" For woman is not undeveloped man,
But diverse. Could we make her as the man, Sweet love were slain, whose dearest bond is this - Not like to like, but like with difference. Yet in the long years liker must they grow ; The man be more of woman, she of man .
He gain in sweetness and in moral height, Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world - She, mental breadth, nor fail in child ward care : More of the double-natured poet each ;
Till at last she set herself to man As perfect music unto noble words. And so these twain upon the skirts of Time, Sit side by side, full summed in all their powers, Self-reverent each, and reverencing each ; Distinct in individualities, But like each other even as those who love."
CHARLES T. GREVE, Cincinnati. Charles Theodore Greve, born at Cin- einnati, January 3, 1863, is of German-English extraction. His father, Dr. Theodore L. A. Greve, is a native of Germany, who came to the United States in 1849, and settled first in Illinois, removing thence to Cincinnati a few years later, where he engaged in the drug business. Dr. Greve is a German univer- sity man, and is deseended from a long line of teachers. Ile is also a suecess- ful man of business, in which he has become prominent. He has occupied the same building with his store for the last forty years. Charles T. Greve's
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mother was, before marriage, Clara Emrie, a daughter of the Honorable Jonas R. Emrie, of Ohio. She is of English lineage, and her forefathers settled in Massachusetts, at Newbury, in 1636. Several of her ancestors fought in the great historic swamp fight of 1675. At an early age Charles became a pupil in the Hillsborough high school, from which he was graduated in 1878. In the fall of 1880 he entered Harvard University, from which he was graduated in 1884, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately thereafter he entered the Cincinnati Law School, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1885. He at once entered upon the practice of law, and shortly afterwards formed a partnership with C. Bentley Matthews, in whose office he had studied, and S. H. Holding, now of Cleveland, under the firm name and style of Matthews, Golding & Greve. Later Mr. Holding withdrew from the firm, leaving it Matthews & Greve. Subsequently the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Greve practiced alone until 1894, when he was appointed assistant United States attorney for the southern district of Ohio. In 1892 he was nominated by the Democrats of the second district as their candidate for Congress, and made a highly creditable canvass; but the majority was against his party. His record in the important office of assistant district attorney has been entirely honorable and eminently praiseworthy. He is alert, cautious and systematic in the trial of a case, watching every step in order to keep the record free from error and irrelevant matter. As an advocate, whether in a civil case or as a public prosecutor on behalf of the United States, his style is perspicuous and argumentative rather than rhetorical ; although any address which he delivers, either in court or on the hustings, is not deficient in rhetorical finish or impressiveness in manner of delivery. Mr. Greve was for years a regular contributor to the daily press of Cincinnati. He was literary editor of the Tribune during the separate existence of that paper. For thirteen years he has been an officer and is now the president of the Cin- cinnati Literary Club, the oldest club of its kind in the country. He is also president of the U. C. D., a literary club including ladies in its membership, now in its thirty-third year. He is a member of the Ohio Chapter of Colonial Wars and the Society of the War of 1812. He was married October 23, 1895, to Miss Laura Belle, daughter of Major E. V. Cherry, of Cincinnati.
WILLIAM H. MACKOY, Cincinnati. The subject of this sketch is a son of the State of Kentucky ; he is a lineal descendant of Scotch ancestry, easily tracing his antecedents back to his father's great-grandfather, James Mackoy, who left Scotland and settled in King William county, Virginia, prior to the year 1718. John Mackoy, grandfather of William H. Mackoy, removed from Virginia to Kentucky early in the present century and purchased a farm in the fertile valley of the Ohio, ten miles distant from the town of Greenup. On this farm was born John Mackoy, Jr., father of our present subject, who when quite a lad bid farewell to the "old farm " and took up his residence in
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Covington, Kentucky, where he lived until his death, covering a period of more than fifty years. He was one of the first elders of the First Presbyte- rian Church of Covington, and took a prominent part in everything that per- tained to the moral and material development of his fellow citizens. The mother of William H. Mackoy was Elizabeth, daughter of William Hardia, of Fredericksburg, Virginia. William H. Mackoy was graduated a Master of Arts of the University of Virginia ; subsequently studied law ; was admitted to the Bar in May, 1865, and began its practice in 1866, since which time he has devoted his entire time to his profession, having his office in Cincinnati, and practicing in the courts of both Ohio and Kentucky. In the summer of 1890 he was elected a delegate to the Kentucky constitutional convention from the Second Legislative District of Covington. As a member of that body he served upon the important committees on corporations and municipalities, and drafted the articles of the Constitution relating to those subjects. At the adjourned session of the convention in September, 1891, he was a member of its committee on revision, and rendered important and valuable services in making corrections in the draft of that instrument which were necessary to make it consistent in all its parts and as a whole. Mr. Mackoy was married to Margaret Chambers Brent, a daughter of Hugh Innes Brent and Margaret, his wife, of Paris, Kentucky. IIe is the father of two sons, Lewis and Harry, and of one daughter, Elizabeth.
VERNON H. BURKE, Cleveland. Mr. Burke was born at Saybrooke, Ashtabula county, Ohio, December 22, 1866. His father, John F. Burke, was a native of Dublin, Ireland, who came to this country at the age of fourteen and settled in Ashtabula county. His mother was Minerva A. Stewart, a daughter of A. M. Stewart, of New York State, and a relative of A. T. Stewart, the merchant prince. Young Burke was first sent to the district schools, later went to Buffalo, New York, and entered Bryant & Stratton's business College, graduating therefrom at the early age of fourteen. Returning home he took up the study of telegraphy and became an operator. At the age of fifteen he entered the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana, and in 1886 took from this institution not only his degree of Bachelor of Arts, but also that of Bachelor of Laws. He was at once admitted to the Bar in Indiana. Returning to Ohio, was again admitted to practice in the State courts. He then came to Cleveland and entered the office of Everett, Dellenbaugh & Weed. After remaining with this firm for a year and a half he formed his first partnership with Captain M. B. Garry, under the firm name of Garry & Burke. Withdrawing from this partnership after a year, he practiced alone until 1892, when he again formed a partnership, this time with II. B. Gregory; but in 1893 he withdrew from the firm and has since continued in practice alone. Mr. Burke, though quite a young man, enjoys a large and lucrative practice of a general nature. He has always been an active worker in the
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