USA > Ohio > Bench and bar of Ohio; a compendium of history and biography, Vol. II > Part 50
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
388
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
application and the unconquerable determination these early struggles are not without their compensation ultimately. And yet he is the favored of fortune who, possessing the taste, the inclination, the natural abilities, the ambition, the energy, the application and the unwavering purpose to advance himself, finds the doors of opportunity wide open as soon as he is qualified. Mr. McSweeney was quick to avail himself of the advantages which a provident and proficient father had prepared for him. He brought into the practice the ardor and the enthusiam of youth, tempered by scholarship and association with men of learning and eminence. He continued his studies in the law and in the broad field of literature, after engaging in the practice, with the same ambitious purpose, the same conscientious application, as in the stages of prep- aration for admission. He has never ceased to be a student and has never been dismayed by the illimitable fields of research yet unexplored. The infinite variety and the infinite resources of the law charm and satisfy the student whose inclination and purpose unite to lead him into an exploration of its depths ; a student who is not satisfied with superficial knowledge; who is not content simply to examine authorities with a view to winning a particular case. Mr. McSweeney has sought to understand the principles of the law and apply them to conditions by means of reasoning. He has always been a busy lawyer in the courts, and has continued in practice alone since the death of his father. He served as prosecuting attorney of Wayne county for six years, and prose- cuted violators of the law with characteristic energy, as well as fidelity to the State. This official experience made him acquainted with criminal statutes and has led to his retention in important criminal cases as counsel for defend- ant. In State of Ohio vs. McCoy he secured from the Supreme Court a decision upon an important question that had not theretofore been reviewed and set- tled by the highest court, viz., that a woman upon whom an abortion has been performed with her consent is an accomplice, and her evidence will require
corroboration. Prior to that the same question had been ruled upon adversely in some eighty-eight cases. Mr. McSweeney has conducted much important litigation in the courts and has been successful not only as a trial lawyer, but also in a business sense. He has succeeded in accumulating a comfortable for- tune. He is a strong advocate, possessing the elements of oratory which influence the minds of juries. His gifts in public speech are frequently employed on the hustings for the benefit of the Democratic party, of which he is an influential member. He was a delegate to the Chicago convention in 1896, which nominated Bryan for president. He was married December 18, 1884, to Miss Ada Mullins, of Wooster, and has three sons living-Rex, James and John. His temperament is rather poetical and finds much gratification in the perusal of such authors as Byron and Longfellow, whom he adores. He is a Shakespearean scholar and never wearies in the study of this great interpreter of human nature. His charming wife presides gracefully in a home noted for its hospitality and for the entertainment of prominent visitors to Wooster.
The Century Publishing & Engraving to Chicago
C. C. ARCHER.
389
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
FRANK C. HUBBARD, Columbus. Frank Coe Hubbard, son of Herman M. and grandson of William B. Hubbard, who was a distinguished lawyer and legislator, and for twelve years Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of United States, he being the only Ohio man ever elected to this, the highest office of the Masonic order. The Hubbards have an illustrious history in the annals of the colonial period of our country. The first members of the family to emigrate to America settled in Connecticut as early as 1620. The mother of Frank C. Hubbard was Mariana Coe, from Middletown, Connecticut. She was the grand-daughter of Joshua Stow, one of the civil engineers chosen by the State of Connecticut to survey and lay off that portion of its western ter- ritory known as the Western Reserve. Frank C. Hubbard was born at Columbus, Ohio, February 13, 1852. He was prepared for college in the pre- paratory school of Racine College of Wisconsin, and in due time was admitted to Hobart College, Geneva, New York, from which he was graduated in June, 1873. For several years after graduation he engaged in business, principally banking, at his home, Columbus. During this time he also read law with the firm of Collins & Cole, and was admitted to the Bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio, in June, 1885, and has ever since been engaged in the practice of his profession, in which he is regarded by his fellow members as a lawyer of unusual ability, superior attainments and high character. For two years Mr. Hubbard served as a member of the State examining committee on admission to the Bar, having been appointed to that position by the judges of the Supreme court. In 1887 Mr Hubbard was elected a director of the Columbus Board of Trade. He has also served in an official capacity in connection with many of the business interests of Columbus, being a director of the Columbus and Xenia Railroad Company ; Columbus Terminal and Transfer Railway Company, and is attorney for the Clinton National Bank. He is a member of the Ohio State Bar and Franklin County Bar Associations. He is also a director of the Columbus Club and served for several years as its secretary. He finds his recreation in outdoor sports and is an enthusiastic and successful disciple of Izaak Walton and a leading member of the famous Castalia Trout Club. Mr. Hubbard is a staunch Republican in politics and an influential member of his party, but has always declined public office, though frequently urged by his fellow citizens to become a candidate for various positions of honor and trust. Mr. Hubbard is a gentleman of critical and cultured literary tastes ; is a great reader of all that is best in literature, and enjoys the possession of an extensive and carefully selected library. In June, 1883, Mr. Hubbard was married to Mary Belle Smith, of Columbus, Ohio.
CHAPMAN C. ARCHER, Cincinnati. C. C. Archer was born December 31, 1843, in Clermont county, Ohio, near the town of Amelia. He is the son of Benjamin and Keziah Sargeant Archer, natives of Ohio and Pennsylvania, respectively, and both of English origin. His father was a farmer, who gave a
390
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
great deal of attention to the growth of fruits and grapes, being among the first to introduce the grape into Clermont county, and owning for a long time the best equipped wine cellar in his section of the country. He was a descendant of Gabriel Archer, who emigrated to Virginia from England in 1604, locating at a place then known as " Archer's Hope." The father died in 1874, at the age of fifty-eight years, surviving his wife some fourteen years. The family originally consisted of five children, of whom but two are now living : Chapman, the subject of this sketch, and James S. Archer, who is engaged in the wholesale flour business in Cincinnati. Chapman C. Archer was educated in the public schools of Clermont county, and subsequently went to what is now known as Belmont College ; he was prevented by illness, how- ever, from graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1864, although he lacked but three months of completing the course. Subsequently he entered the law school of Cincinnati College, and graduated from that institu- tion in 1867. Immediately after his admission to the Bar he associated him- self in the practice of law with H. R. Cox, the firm name being Cox & Archer. This association continued for about two years. Subsequently he practiced his profession alone for a short time, until, in 1870, a partnership with Honorable Aaron McNeill was formed, the firm being known as Archer & McNeill. This association continued until 1894, when Mr. McNeill was elected to the office of judge of the Court of Insolvency. Subsequently Mr. Archer associated himself with G. F. Osier, the firm being at present Archer & Osler. Mr. Archer on November 22, 1872, was married to Alice M., daughter of Nathaniel G. and Rachel Maguire Witham, of Withamsville, Ohio. They have one daughter, Kittie R. Archer, who graduated from the well-known Bartholomew School in Cincinnati in 1893. Mr. Archer is a Democrat in politics, and has always been actively engaged in the work of his party in Hamilton county and in the State. He represented the county in the Sixty-first General Assembly of Ohio in 1873 and 1874, being at that time the youngest member of the body. He was also for many years a member of the board of education from the First Ward. In 1893 he was the nominee of his party for the office of probate judge, but was unsuccessful with the rest of the ticket in the election. He is a Knight Templar, a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Red Men. Mr. Archer is a man of commanding presence, affable manners and conservative disposition. He has been engaged continuously in the active practice of his profession since his admission to the Bar, and his industrious habits and sound judgment, combined with his careful study of legal prin- ciples and his high character, have made for him a foremost position among his associates in the legal profession. He has not confined himself to any special branch of law, but has participated in the general practice, being regarded as an effective advocate in the trial of causes, as well as a safe coun- sellor in the work of his office.
391
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
GEORGE H. PENDLETON, Cincinnati. Honorable George Hunt Pendle- ton was born July 19, 1825, in the city of Cincinnati. He was the grandson of Nathaniel Pendleton, a friend and confidant of Washington, who served through the Revolutionary War on the staff of General Greene and whom Washington appointed judge of the United States District Court of Georgia, and a son of Nathaniel G. Pendleton, one of the most distinguished men of his day, a member of Congress and an intimate friend of President Harrison. His mother was a daughter of Jesse Hunt, one of the pioneers of the western country. His early education was obtained at Woodward High School and under Professor O. M. Mitchell at the old Cincinnati College. He studied for several years under private instruction at home and concluded his educational preparation by two years' travel through Europe, Asia and Africa and a term at the University of Heidelberg. He returned to America in 1846 and studied and practiced law in Cincinnati. In 1853, he was elected a member of the State Senate from Hamilton county and served through the full term of two years. From that date until the time of his death he was prominent in the politics of his country. In 1856, he was elected to Congress and served until March 4, 1865. In 1864, when General Mcclellan was nominated for Presi- dent of the United States, Mr. Pendleton received the unanimous vote of the convention of his party, for the Vice-Presidency. In 1868, he was the most popular man of his party for President, but was defeated by Mr. Seymour by a few votes. He was the candidate of his party for Governor of Ohio in 1869. Subsequently he was elected United States Senator from Ohio, and served from 1878 to 1884 in that position. His greatest distinction rests upon the civil service bill, which was introduced by him, and after untiring efforts on his part was enacted into law.
His term as senator expired in March, 1885, whereupon he was appointed by President Cleveland minister to the German Empire. He occupied this position for more than two years and made a splendid impression upon the German government as a diplomat of dignity and ability. While in the discharge of the duties connected with this office he became so seriously ill that he started home for a rest from his labors. Upon his homeward journey he stopped at Brussels, and there died, November 24, 1889. In the following year memorial services were held in the great Music Hall in Cincinnati, at which was delivered an appreciative address by the late Isaac M. Jordan. The ceremonies were most impressive, and were attended by a distinguished body of his fellow citizens, who, regardless of party or belief, testified to the great worth of the departed statesman. Throughout his political life Mr. Pendleton was one of the leaders of the Democratic party. Although strongly opposed to the war, after peace was no longer possible he supported every measure necessary to its successful prose- cution. As an orator he stood among the first men of his day and the sin- cerity and complete integrity of the man were never questioned even by his opponents. The respect with which he was regarded by all was indicated by the familiar name "Gentleman George," which, first applied to him rather derisively, became a proud title which was never disputed by any one. He
392
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
was a man of very high moral sense and of the purest character, and, although a public man throughout his life, his reputation remained unsullied. In 1847, he married Alice Key, a daughter of Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner. At his death he left a son, Frank K. Pendleton, and two daughters.
LAWRENCE MAXWELL, JR., Cincinnati. Honorable Lawrence Maxwell, Jr., was born at Glasgow, Scotland, May 4th, 1853, during a visit of his mother to that country, both of his parents being natives of Scotland. His father was a brass founder for a number of years, and a member of the firm of Thomas Gibson & Co., of Cincinnati. He received his education in the public schools and at Woodward High School, and subsequently at the University of Mich- igan, where he graduated in 1874. Thereupon he became a member of the Cincinnati Law School, and studied law in the office of Stanley Matthews. He was admitted to the Bar in May, 1875, and in the fall of that year connected himself with the firm of King, Thompson & Longworth. Upon the election of Nicholas Longworth to the Common Pleas Bench the firm was reorganized under the name of King, Thompson & Maxwell. In 1879 he delivered lectures to the students of the Cincinnati Law School, and in 1881, by request, a special series of lectures upon the science of jurisprudence, which were attended by many members of the bar as well as the students of the school. His argument before the Supreme Court of the United States in the celebrated case involving the MeArthur will was made in 1884, and attracted the attention of the Bar of the country, being characterized by the justice who wrote the opinion of the court as the finest argument he had heard while on the Bench. At the time Stanley Matthews became a member of the Supreme Court of the United States, in 1884, Mr. Maxwell retired from the firm with which he had been associated, and formed a partnership with William M. Ramsey, who had been Mr. Matthews' partner, and remained associated with Mr. Ramsey until the time of the latter's death. With E. W. Kittredge, of Cincinnati, and James C. Carter, of New York, he acted as arbitrator in the Hocking Valley Rail- road case, in which several millions of dollars were involved. On March 30, 1893, President Cleveland appointed him solicitor general of the United States, which appointment he was at first inclined to refuse, but which he afterward accepted and filled with signal success. He subsequently resigned in 1895. He married, in December, 1876, Clara Bary Darrow, of Ann Harbor, Mich- igan. They have two children. Upon the organization of the law school connected with the Cincinnati University, Mr. Maxwell was chosen as one of the faculty, his special subjects being common law and equity pleading.
The Century Publishing & Engraving Co. Chicago
aaBrown
393
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
ARTHUR A. BROWN, Cincinnati. It is often true that the young man who carves out his own fortune attains a position before men which if thrust upon him by inheritance or combination of circumstances beyond his control he would be unable to maintain. The subject of this sketch, now standing at the front among the young members of the Cincinnati Bar, is the architect of his own position. Coming to this city at the age of thirteen years he was variously employed as an operator of wood-working machinery in the carriage and furni- ture factories, during which time he prepared himself for active life by attend- ing the night schools of the city. At the age of eighteen years he began the study of law, frequently carrying with him to his work a copy of some law text book, and pursued his studies while engaged in his daily labor. He was admitted to the Bar in February, 1880, and soon after began the practice of his profession in the city of Nashville, Tennessee. In 1885 he returned to this city, and for a time engaged in editorial work ; but his desire and inclina- tion urged him to re-engage in the practice of his chosen profession. Opening an office again as a practicing lawyer he was at once rewarded with a clientele that would honor a much older practitioner. Among his first import- ant engagements was his selection as attorney for the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers, a position he continues to hold. His strength at the Bar is found in his eloquence as an advocate before a jury. In the presen- tation of a case he is peculiarly gifted with a manner that appeals to the sentiment of a juror. He can with the greatest skill play upon the emotions, appeal to sympathy, arouse the enmity and hate of a jury at will. Compara- tively few men at the Ohio Bar excel him in power over a jury. Mr. Brown has by indefatigable effort established a commercial practice extending from the seaboard on the East to the Mississippi Valley, and has for his clients many of the largest manufacturers and jobbers in the United States. As a politician he has won fame as an orator, and as a leader with fixed and uncom- promising political opinions, his counsel and advice are constantly in demand from members of his party. As a public speaker Mr. Brown is especially gifted, possessing a freedom of speech, a clearness of thought, a power of logic, a fund of humor and telling sarcasm that electrify and hold his audience wherever he appears on the platform. A number of times he has been urged as a candidate for Congress, for secretary of state, for attorney general, but has never permitted his name to be placed before a convention. More than content is he to pursue the duties of his practice and enjoy the confidence and esteem of his friends and clients, and the quiet of his library at home, rather than engage in an unseemly scramble for office.
EVAN P. MIDDLETON, Urbana. Mr. Middleton is a native of Champaign county, born on his father's farm in Wayne township, April 19, 1854. Trac- ing the line of his ancestry back to the colonial times, we find the family seat in South Carolina. The family was originally English, but because of long
394
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
residence and frequent inter-marriages with persons of other nationality their English blood, in common with that of most old families, has become the com- posite of modern American stock. The family was prominent in the agitation for liberty which led up to the Revolutionary War. One of Mr. Middleton's ancestors, Arthur Middleton, member of Congress from South Carolina, in 1776, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His immediate family came from Virginia, both of his paternal grandparents being natives of Fairfax county in that State. They came to Ohio in 1810, and settled on a farm in Brown county, near Georgetown. His grandfather served in the American army in the war of 1812. He was a civil engineer and surveyor, and assisted in the survey and establishment of the county lines of Pike, Brown, Adams and other counties in the southern part of the State. He was also a farmer and land owner. Later the family removed to Cham- paign county, settling on a farm where the grandparents spent the remainder of their lives, his grandfather dying at the age of ninety-five and his grand- mother at the age of ninety-three years, and they had passed the seventieth anniversary of their wedded life before either of them died. John Middleton, the father of our subject, was a farmer and devoted his life to that vocation. He died in 1881, of pneumonia, at the age of sixty years, on his farm in Wayne township. Mary (McCumber) Middleton, his mother, died July 4th, 1897, in the village of Cable, near the old homestead. She was of Scotch and German parentage, her mother being of German and her father of Scotch descent. Evan P. received his early education in the common schools of Wayne township. At the age of seventeen he entered the Urbana High School, where he attended about a year. He began teaching at the age of eighteen, and continued in that avocation for a period of eight years. During those years he and his brother Arthur kept up a course of literary and classical studies under private tutorship, studying the higher branches of mathematics and the Latin classics, as well as English literature. The last two and a half years of this course were devoted to the study of law under the preceptorship of General John H. Young. They were admitted in Octo- ber, 1878, by the Supreme Court of Ohio, to practice in all the State courts. In the spring of 1879 they entered on the practice of law at Urbana, under the firm name of Middleton & Middleton. This partnership continued up to the death of Arthur Middleton, December 23, 1889. Since that time Mr. Middle- ton has continued the practice alone. In the fall of 1883 he was elected prosecuting attorney of Champaign county, and was re-elected in 1886, serv- ing six years in that office. In the spring of 1881 he was appointed by the Supreme Court, and served as one of the board of examiners of the Cincinnati Law School for that year. As a lawyer Mr. Middleton ranks with the best at the Champaign county Bar. He is purely a lawyer and devotes all his time to his profession. He is thorough in the preparation of his cases and strong in their presentation before court and jury. He is a pleasant and forceful speaker and a successful trial lawyer. He has a large and remunerative practice. There have been but few important cases tried in the county courts
395
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
during the past ten years in which Mr. Middleton has not appeared on one side or the other. In politics he is a Republican, and takes considerable part in party politics. Speaking of his characteristics as a lawyer, one of the most prominent members of the Champaign county Bar observed : "Evan P. Middleton ranks with the most successful attorneys at this Bar. He is the sole architect and builder of his own career. He is a well educated man, and got it altogether by his own exertions and without aid of friends. He has been a close student and hard-working lawyer. He spares no pains in the preparation of his cases and is usually prepared for any emergency that may arise. He possesses considerable ability as a speaker, and is a forceful advo- cate before a jury or court. He is highly respected by the Bar; both for what he is and for what he has done for himself." Mr. Middleton was married on December 23, 1875, to Miss Zeppa Rippetoe, daughter of William and Martha (Farmer) Rippetoe, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Kentucky, though both have passed most of their days in Champaign county. They have two sons and one daughter.
GEORGE E. PUGH, Cincinnati. George E. Pugh was born in Cincinnati, November 28, 1822. He studied at Miami University, whence he graduated in 1840. He took up the study of law and practiced with success until the opening of the Mexican war. He became a captain in the Fourth Ohio Regi- ment, and also served as aid to General Joseph Lane. At the close of the war he was elected to the Ohio legislature. In 1850 he became city solicitor of the city of Cincinnati, and in 1851 attorney-general of the State. He was elected United States Senator from Ohio in 1855, when hardly thirty-three years of age, his term extending from December 3, 1855, to March 3, 1861. In the senate he served on the committee on public lands and the committee on judiciary. He took a very active part on the floor of the senate, and was one of the leaders of the Northern Democrats. In 1860 he was a delegate to the National convention held at Charleston, South Carolina, and made the reply to the celebrated speech of William L. Yancey. In 1861 he, with William S. Groesbeck, Rutherford B. Hayes and others, telegraphed the President sug- gesting that General George B. McClelland be put in military authority in Cincinnati. In 1863 he made a very able speech in the Vallandigham habeas corpus case. In 1863 he was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant gov- ernor of the State, but was defeated, as he was the following year when a candidate for congress. In 1873 he was elected delegate to the State consti- tutional convention, but declined to act in that capacity. He died July 19, 1876. George E. Pugh has always been regarded as one of Ohio's ablest men. As an orator and a lawyer he was without a rival. His intellectual powers matured early in life and for some years he was the idol of the people and the Bar. His memory was little short of marvelous and his power of using his materials, even under the most adverse circumstances, made him almost invincible.
396
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
CHARLES S. BENTLEY, Cleveland. The Honorable Charles S. Bentley was born at Chargrin Falls, Cuyahoga county, on the 5th of September, 1846. His father, Staughton Bentley, was a merchant, born in Ohio. The grand- father, Adamson Bentley, was a native of Pennsylvania, of Quaker stock. The latter came to Ohio in the latter part of the last century, where he became one of the most prominent of the Early Disciple Ministers. The Bentleys are of English descent. His mother, Orsey Baldwin, also a native of Ohio, was of English extraction and her ancestors settled first in Connecticut, at a very early period. In childhood young Bentley was sent to the common district schools, which he attended until he was eighteen years of age, when he entered the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, now Hiram College. At the age of twenty- one he entered Hillsdale College, Michigan, where he took the classical course, and was graduated in 1870. He then went to Allegan, Michigan, where he engaged in the wholesale lumber business for something over a year, and while in this business he began the study of law with Honorable B. D. Pritchard, known as the captor of Jefferson Davis. Later he went to Cleveland and entered the office of Judge Darius Cadwell, where he remained until his ad- mission to the Bar in the fall of 1872. He commenced practice in the office of Barber & Andrews, and in February, 1873, he removed to Bryan, where he formed a partnership with the Honorable Albert M. Pratt, under the firm name of Pratt & Bentley. This co-partnership continued until 1887, when Mr. Bentley was elected judge of the Sixth Circuit of Ohio for a short term of one year. At the expiration of this term he was elected for a full term of six years, at the close of which he declined a re-election. IIe then located in Cleveland and resumed the practice of law in partnership with Charles H. Stewart. To have a fair estimate of Judge Bentley he must be considered both as a lawyer and a judge. Before his elevation to the Bench he was but little known beyond the counties near his home; but after assuming his judicial duties he became well and favorably known throughout the State, especially for his decisions, which were models of clearness and conciseness. There was no misunderstanding their scope, yet, withal, they were clothed in choice words, which marked the scholar as well as the jurist. Many of these decisions are found reported in the Ohio Circuit Court Reports from Vol. III to X. His associates on the Bench, Judges George R. Haynes and Charles H. Scribner, both of whom served with him the entire seven years, early recognized his worth, and while these three judges presided over the Sixth Circuit it was regarded by the Bar of Ohio as one of the ablest courts in the State. The work of Judge Bentley contributed largely to placing the court upon this high plane. While he was on the Bench the Court of the Sixth Circuit was called upon to deal with three notable subjects of litigation as to which the law was not well settled, viz, petroleum, natural gas and electricity (as a motive power). The introduction of electricity into cities for the propulsion of street cars was bitterly resisted, on the ground, among others, that it was destructive of property and the lives of persons and horses, and its use in streets would compel their abandonment by vehicles
The Century Publishing & Engraving Co. Chicago.
C. S. Bentley
397
BENCH AND BAR OF OHIO.
drawn by horses, and would be such a standing menace to all safety that franchises to thus use it were void, and injunctions to prevent its use were sought. All this caused much litigation and that court was to quite an extent a pioneer in dealing with these questions and aiding to settle the law of Ohio concerning them. While Judge Bentley was a member of that court it also had to deal with novel and intricate questions as to the legal power of an electric street railway company to obtain by condemnation the right to use jointly with a horse street-car company parts of the established tracks of the latter, and as to the measure of damages therefor, and his opinions in these cases are especially important and interesting. His relations with the Bar were always most cordial, and every member thereof was treated with the utmost courtesy. He was particularly kind to the young practitioner, and when he decided to retire and again take up his work at the Bar there was universal regret that the circuit should lose his services, and he received many urgent letters from both political parties requesting him to reconsider his decis- ion. But wishing to resume practice, he persisted upon retiring. His rank at the Bar before his elevation to the Bench was second to none in his part of the State. He was recognized as a fighter, and when a lawyer knew that Bentley was on the other side of the trial table he well knew that every faculty would have to be alert, for nothing would be left undone which the interest of his client required. While he was a fighter, his methods were fair and only such as a lawyer with a high sense of the proprieties of his profession would employ. After retiring from the Bench he became the senior member of the firm of Bentley & Stewart, at Cleveland, where he at once took rank with the leaders of the Cleveland Bar, often being called in consultation in important cases. From his judicial experience he acquired the habit of looking at questions from both sides, and his services in consultation were most invaluable. Judge Bentley is Dean of the Baldwin University Law School at Cleveland. He is a Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree. In 1874 he married Isabel Kemton, of North Adams, Michigan, and by this union there is one daughter, now in the Woman's College at Cleveland. In 1877 Mrs. Bentley died, and in 1890 he married Mary E. Logan, of Toledo. There is no issue of this marriage.
-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.