Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 33

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Ohio > Summit County > Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens > Part 33

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he practiced law in partnership with the IIon. John McSwaney. It is safe to say that Judge Bliss had few equals and no superiors as a lawyer. He was learned in the law and his logic was most profound. His command of language was such that his extempore argu- ments to the court or jury would read like a page of Junius. His eloquence was of the Websterian type, profound and convincing, while in the art of examining and eross-ex- amining witnesses he has never been excelled. He married late in life, and at his death a wife and five children survived him. He was a most companionable man, very witty and interesting. Ile never lost his temper, but exercised complete selfcontrol. He took an active part in politics, and achieved a na- tional reputation as one of the leading states- mnen of the country. He was one of the lead- ing counsel in the case of Ohio against James Parks, which was the first and perhaps the most important murder trial ever tried in Summit County.

JAMES S. CARPENTER was a very prom- inent lawyer, born in New Hampshire in 1805. Moved with his parents to Pottsdam, New York, and was educated at the St. Law- renee Academy at Pottsdam. In June, 1832, he came to Ohio and removed to Medina, in Medina County, in 1835, where he edited a newspaper called the Constitutionalist. He was elected to the Legislature of the State in the fall of 1839. He was a strong anti-slav- ery man and advocated in his papers as well as in his addresses the rights of the colored people of Ohio. He moved to Akron in 1846 and practiced law at Akron for many years. He occupied the Common Pleas Bench from 1856 to 1861. Judge Carpenter was of Eng- lish ancestry, and in his example and by precept he represented the extreme type of Puritan morality and uprightness. He was very highly educated as a judge. lawyer and citizen. ITis wife and three children sur- vived him.

COLONEL WILBUR F. SAUNDERS was born in Lorn. New York, May 2, 1834, and

he came to Akron in 1854. Ile taught in the high school of Akron for a year or two, after coming to Ohio, and during the time studied law in the office of his uncle, Hon. Sidney Edgerton, and was admitted to the bar in 1876. On the breaking out of the Civil War in 1861, he enlisted in the army and was elected a lieutenant in Company G, Sixty- fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He re- mained in service until 1863. He commenecd the practice of law in Akron with his uncle, Sidney Edgerton, and his rise in the pro- fession was rapid. He was a very fluent speaker, and was especially prominent in po- litical discussions. Ile accompanied his un- cle, Sidney Edgerton, to the territory of Idaho and to Bennock City; this was in 1884. So- ciety in this portion of the west at that time was in a very chaotic condition. There was but little security for life or property, through the regular legal channels. Murders, rob- beries and crimes of all kinds were of such frequent occurrence that the people of this portion of the territory, for their protection, organized themselves into a body, called "Vigilantes." Colonel Saunders was very prominent in this organization, and fifty or more outlaws and desperadoes were hung un- der the orders of this court. It was a very speedy and effective measure of justice, but it made honest men and it was not long before law and order prevailed. Colonel Saunders was appointed United States attorney by President Grant, and he became also a member of the Territorial Legislature, and in 1890 was elected United States Senator from the newly organized State of Montana. At the expira- tion of his term he returned to the practice of the law in the city of Helena, Montana. where he lived until his death.

CHRISTOPHER PARSONS WOLCOTT came from Connecticut, was born in 1825. and with his parents removed to Steubenville, Ohio. He graduated at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, and studied law with Tappin & Stanton in Steubenville. Upon his admis- sion to the bar in 1843. he formed a partner- ship with General L. V. Bierce at Ravenna,

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Ohio, and in 1846 came to Akron, forming a partnership with William S. C. Otis, and after Mr. Otis removed to Cleveland, he be- came a partner of Judge William H. Upson. Upon the death of the Attorney General F. D. Kendel in 1856, Governor Chase appointed Mr. Wolcott to fill the vacancy, and he was subsequently elected. His services as Attor- ney General were particularly notable. Dur- ing that time there occurred a heavy defalca- tion in the State Treasury and this brought on a number of very important State trials, in which Mr. Wolcott took a very prominent part, and perhaps the most important case that occurred was the case of ex parte Bu-h- nell, sometimes called the "Oberlin rescue cases." It grew out of the attempt to en- force the fugitive slave law by carrying baek fugitive slaves to the State of Kentucky. The people of Oberlin resisted the enforcement of this law; indeed public opinion in the North was strongly against this enforcement, and a number of citizens of Oberlin were arrested for resisting the enforcement of this law, and the case came up in the Supreme Court of Ohio on application for a writ in Habeas cor- pus, in behalf of the persons who had been arrested. The main question was over the constitutionality of the Fugitive Slave law. Mr. Wolcott's argument on this occasion was a most masterly effort. The decision of the court was against him, but they did Mr. Wol- cott the honor of having his argument in full. printed in the volume of the Ohio Re- ports. Mr. Wolcott was strictly a lawyer ; he gave law his whole attention, even at the ex- pense of his social duties. His arguments were solid, logical and convincing. He never indulged in matters of sentiment, or appealed to the emotions or passions. He relied simply upon his logieal processes and reasoning. Mr. Wolcott was one of the leaders of the Summit County bar. Soon after the breaking out of the Civil War, he was appointed by his brother-in-law, Edwin M. Stanton, assistant secretary of war. He entered upon the dis- charge of these important duties with energy and skill, taxing himself to such an extent that his health broke down, and he died in

the city of Akron shortly after his retiring from that position.

SAMUEL W. MCCLURE was born in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Novem- ber, 1812. In 1828 he came to Medina County, Ohio, and taught school at Medina for a period of two years. He then attended Allegheny College, Pennsylvania, where he graduated. At that time he intended becom- ing a minister of the Gospel. He taught the academy at Ashland, in Ashland County, for two years, and while so engaged studied law in the offices of Silas Robbins and Judge ('harles Sherman ; during the time he edited the Ashland Phoenix. He subsequently re- turned to Medina and became the editor of the Constitutionalist, and during that time also entered into a law partnership with Judge Carpenter. Hle removed to Cuyahoga Falls. in Summit County, about the year 1843, and practiced law at that place with great sue- cess, until he removed to AAkron, about 1865, where he practiced his profession in partner- ship with the late Edward Oviatt. Judge Me- ('lure held the office of prosecuting attorney in Summit County, and was elected a mem- ber of the General Assembly of the State in 1848, and he was subsequently elected a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the dis- triets of Summit, Medina and Lorain Coun- ties, which office he held for one term. Judge MeClure was a very able lawyer, and by his constant attention to business and his skill and energy, he acquired a large practice and was very successful, especially in the trial of jury eases. While Judge MeClure lived at Cuyahoga Falls, he entered into a partner- ship with Hon. Henry MeKinney, who still lives in the city of Cleveland.

MR. MCKINNEY was elected prosecuting attorney of Summit County, which office he filled with great success, and was also elected a Senator from this district. Ile removed to Cleveland in about 1880, where he was elected a judge of the Court of Common Plea- and hold the office for one term. It is no more than just to say that Judge MeKinney had

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few equals as a trial lawyer. He was espe- by stage and horseback through a country cially strong in the trial of jury cases, and his preparation for trial, both as to law of the case and the facts involved, was com- plete in every particular. Ile was a man of large sympathies and most generous impulses.

TION. SIDNEY EDGERTON, formerly one of Ohio's distinguished citizens, who from 1852 until 1865 served his city, State and country, in positions of honor and great re- sponsibility, was born at Cazenovia, New York, August 17, 18IS. Ilis father, a teacher by profession, was afflicted by blindness dur- ing his later life, dying when Sidney was six months old. Mrs. Edgerton, left in strait- ened circumstances, could support her family for a few years only, and the boy was forced into the world at the age of eight to battle for himself.

After attending the district school for the usual period, he began at the age of seventeen to teach school, soon earning enough to en- able him to enter Wesley Seminary, at Lima, New York, where he was subsequently en- gaged as a teacher. In the spring of 1844 he came to Akron, making the journey by water. The day after his arrival he entered the office of Judge Rufus P. Spalding, for the study of law, and during the following winter he taught in the Tallmadge Academy. In 1846 he was graduated from the Cinein- nati Law School and admitted to the bar in that city and immediately opened an office åt Akron. Hle soon became identified with public affairs, and in 1848 was a delegate to the convention which resulted in the for- mation of the Free Soil Party. In 1852 he secured election as prosecuting attorney of Summit County, in which office he served for four years. In 1858 came his election to Congress, followed by his re-election in 1860. His record as a statesman was such that in 1863 he was appointed by President Lincoln to the office of chief justice of Idaho. It was Mr. Edgerton who prepared the bill for the organization of the territory of Montana, and who went to Washington and presented it to Congress, making the long journey partly

then almost entirely unsettled. President Lincoln recognized the value of his services by appointing him governor of the Territory of Montana, an office he held until a more perfect organization was effected, and the way paved for further legislation and the opening up of that rich region to settlement. Mr. Edgerton then resigned his office and in Jan- uary, 1866, resumed the practice of his pro- fession at AAkron, where he continued a resi- dent during the rest of his life. which ter- minated July 19, 1900.

On May 18, 1849, Mr. Edgerton was mar- ried to Mary Wright, of Tallmadge, Ohio, and they became the parents of nine chil- Iren. Mrs. Edgerton died August 3, 1883. Four of their children survive, namely : Martha E. Plassmann, residing at Missoula, Montana; Mary Pauline Edgerton, of Akron; Lucia Idaho Buckingham, wife of George E. Buckingham, of Akron, Ohio; Nina E. Whit- man, wife of Captain W M. Whitman, U. S. A., now stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. Those deceased are: Wright Prescott Edger- ton, professor of mathematics at the West Point Military Academy, at the time of his death, June 24. 1904; Sidney Carter Edger- ton. died November 29, 1895: Francis Lowell Edgerton, died October 2, 1881: Lucy Ione Edgerton, died May 10, 1905.

Sidney Edgerton was a man of stanch moral courage, wonderfully proven in the anti-slavery struggle, and 'in the formative period of the New West. He was gifted with a marvelous memory, his reading broad, yet discriminating. In his profession of law he gained distinction, and was particularly re- nowned as a jury lawyer. He had a keen sense of humor, and possessed an inexhaust- ible supply of anecdotes. He was an ardent champion and a fervent hater, and his whole life was a struggle for the upbuilding of right and justice.

HON. NATHANIEL W. GOODIIUE, for- merly judge of the Probate Court of Summit County, was one of the county's most promi- nent and useful men in his day and genera-

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tion. He was born in Lincoln County, Maine, December 20, 1818, in childhood accompany- ing his parents to Lower Canada, where he lived until the age of seventeen years.

In 1837 N. W. Goodhue moved to Wayne County, Ohio. At that time there were fewer avenues of labor promising satisfactory emol- uments than at present. He was ambitious and turned his eyes in the direction of the law even while spending his summers in ped- dling notions and general merchandise through the country and his winters in teaching school, which occupied his time for several years. In 1846 he studied law in the office of Iland & Nash, at Middlebury, having come to Summit County as a teacher, and in 1846 and 1847 was fortunate enough to secure the position of engrossing clerk in the House of Representatives, at Columbus. In the latter year he was admitted to the bar, in 1848 he was elected auditor of Summit County and was re-elected in 1850, fill- ing the office for four years. In 1856 he was appointed canal collector, serv- ing for two years, and was collector of inter- nal revenue for Summit County, from Sep- tember, 1882, until September. 1866. He hed always been active in the Republican party since its formation, and in 1873 he was elected by this organization State Senator from Sunt- mit and Portage Counties, serving two years. In 1880, he was Republican elector for the Eighteenth Congressional District and prosi- dent of the Ohio Electoral College. In Oc- tober, 1881, he was elected judge of the Pro- bate Court of Summit County, this being his last publie honor. On the bench he gave entire satisfaction and ocenpied this honor- able position until his death. which occurred September 12, 1883. In his many official capacities he had always acquitted himself with credit.

Judge Goodhue was married December 20. 1841, to Naney Johnston, who was born in Green Township, Summit County and they had four children, namely: James P., who died in infancy: Allan J., now residing at Chicago, Illinois, who served as a member of the 104th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infan-

try, during the Civil War; Mary H., now de- ceased, who was the wife of Rev. Samuel Maxwell, a clergyman of the Protestant Epis- copal Church ; and Nathaniel P., ex-clerk of the Summit County Court. The last named is a prominent business eitizen of Akron, in- terested in many of her successful enterprises, and is treasurer of the Bruner, Goodhue, Cooke Company and president of the Akron Laundry Company. He resides at No. 140 Adolph Avenue.

CONSTANT BRYAN. Judge Constant Bryan was another of the old time lawyers. He was born in the State of New York in 1809. Read law and graduated from the law department of Yale College in 1833 and was admitted to the bar in 1834. He was elected Probate Judge for Summit County in 1852. He took a great interest in the cause of edu- cation and was a member of the School Board. Judge Bryan was a very dignified, quiet gen- tleman. Ile had no taste for the hurlyburly of a court trial, he preferred rather the quiet of an office practice, and the business part of the legal profession. Ile was a man of proved integrity and was very highly re- speeted.

CHARLES B. BERNARD was a son of Rev. David Bernard, a former Baptist clergy- man in Akron. Mr. Bernard was born in New York, and came to Akron in 1846, where he taught school and later entered the office of the county auditor. Six years later he was elected auditor and served four years. Dur- ing this time he studied law and was ad- mitted to the bar, and became a member of the firm of Wolcott, Upson & Bernard. He was a member of the Board of Education. During the Civil War he was made adjutant of the One Hundred and Sixty-fourth Ohio Regiment, Ohio National Guard. Mr. Ber- nard was a splendid specimen of physical manhood and was prominent in public affairs. His probity no one ever doubted, and his character was the very highest. As a busi- ness lawyer, or rather a lawyer for office prac- tice, he had no superiors.

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CALVIN PEASE HUMPHREY, son of Van R. Humphrey, was born at Iludson. Ohio, in 1840. He graduated at Western Reserve College in 1863, and was soon after admitted to the bar. IIe served for a time in the Civil War. After the close of the war Mr. Humphrey commenced the practice of his profession at Cuyahoga Falls, later com- ing to Akron, where he entered into a part- nership with Judge E. W. Stuart. Mr. Ilumphrey made a specialty of patent laws and he became a very successful and efficient. attorney in that department. He was a clever lawyer as well as a skillful mechanic.

E. P. GREEN. Judge Edwin P. Green was born in Windsor County, Vermont, March 10. 1828. He was educated at Bradford Academy, and commenced the study of law in Littleton, New Hampshire. Coming to Akron in 1852, he entered the office of IIum- phrey & Edgerton, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was elected clerk of the court in October, 1854. and at the close of his term he resumed his law practice. and he was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court, which office he held for five years. Judge Green was president of the Ohio Bar Association in 1878. He was a very careful lawyer: he was not an advocate in any sense of the term, but he was learned in the law and was a prudent judicial advisor. His de- cisions as judge of the Common Pleas Court were very able, and his judgments were very rarely reversed by the higher courts. Judge Green was prominent in educational matters, he was a great reader and possessed a splendid and well selected library of books. He was a member of the Akron Publie Library Asso- ciation, and was one of the corporators and trustees of Buchtel College.

ROLIN W. SADLER was born in St. Jo- seph County, Michigan, in 1856. His father was a school teacher by profession. Mr. Sad- ler entered Baldwin University and later went to Mt. Union College, where he graduated in 1871. He then engaged in teaching, first as principal of the High School at Reading,

Michigan, and then at Bedford, Summit County. Ohio. In 1876 he entered the law office of Edgerton and Kohler, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1876. He was for sev- eral years in partnership with Mr. Kohler and later he became a partner in the firm of Marvin. Sadler & Atterholt. Mr. Sadler was one of the younger members of the bar, but from the very start of his profession he ex- hibited those qualities which brought him to the front of the profession, and he very soon became one of the best equipped lawyers of the Summit County bar. He had a thor- ough education and his mind readily grasped the most intricate leading questions and solved them with intuitive ease and clearness. Ile was also an influential. persuasive and elo- quent speaker. He met with an accident in the city of Akron which cost him his life, and had he lived there is no doubt that lie would have achieved a national reputation as a great lawyer and advocate. In his prac- tice and in the trial of eases he was, in the best sense of the term. a gentleman, and made it clear that one can be a perfect gentleman, kind and courteous, and at the same time a most effective trial lawyer.

FRANK M. ATTERHOLT was born in 1848 near New Lisbon, Ohio. He was du- rated at New Lisbon High School and at Mt. Union College, graduating at the latter in- stitution in 1870. Ile was a prominent teacher for several years and became editor of the Columbiana Register. He came to Ak- ron in 1879 and read law with Upson, Ford and Baird. Was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court at Columbus, and later be- came a partner of Judge Marvin in the law practice. Mr. Atterholt was a member of the Board of Education, member of the Board of School Examiners and trustce of Mt. Union College. Mr. Atterholt gave the latter years of his life almost exelnsively to business af- fairs, being largely interested in a number of corporations and in organizing others. IIA was a prominent member of the Methodist Church in the city of Akron. He died at Akron after a long and painful illness,

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DAVID LESLIE MARVIN, son of Ulysses L. Marvin, was born at Kent, Ohio, in 1862. He was educated in the Akron publie schools and at Kenyon College. Gambier. He was elected assistant engineer of the board of Public Works of Ohio, and was re-elected in 1888 and 1890. During this time he read law, and was admitted to the bar in Decem- ber, 1889. Coming to Akron he began the practice of his profession, as a member of the law firm of Marvin, Atterholt, Slabaugh & Marvin. Mr. Marvin was a bright, capable and genial young man, and gave promise of success in his profession. His untimely death was mourned by all who had enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance.

HENRY WARD INGERSOLL was born in Richfield, October 23, 1833. He moved with his family do Hudson. He was grad- uated at the Western Reserve College in 1857, and studied law in the office of Judge Van R. Humphrey, and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court at Columbus, March 9, 1859. Upon the breaking out of the Civil War he enlisted in the Second Ohio Cavalry Regimental Band, serving in the division of General Blont in the Western campaign. He was commissioned by Governor Tod as Cap- tain in the 124th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In 1864. at the call of Governor Brough, he served one hundred days in defense of the National Capital as a member of the 164th Ohio National Guard. Mr. Ingersoll was an indefatigable worker, energetie and pains- taking. He was a man of high character and was highly educated. In addition to his at- tainments as a lawyer he was a fine mu- sieian ; he had a splendid voice, which was highly cultivated.

WILLIAM M. DODGE deserves honorable mention among the earlier lawyers of Sum- mit County. He was born in 1805, in New York, where he studied law with Judge Wheeler. After his admission to the bar, he came to Middlebury, which was then the chief town in Summit County. He was elected prosecuting attorney of the new county. being

the first one to hold that office in the new jurisdiction ; he was re-elected and held the of- fice two years. He was one of the leading advocates and workers for the famous Ak- ron School Law, and became a member of the first board of education in the city of Akron. In 1860 Mr. Dodge was elected probate judge of Summit County, and this office he held un- til his death, July 21, 1861. He was fifty-six years of age at the time of his death.

EDWARD OVIATT was another of Sum- mit County's earlier lawyers. He was born in Hudson Township in 1822. Ile attended school at the Richfield Academy, where the family lived, and later at Granville Institute and Western Reserve College. Ile prepared for admission to the bar in Akron in the of- fice of Hon. D. K. Carter, and he was admit- ted to the bar at Medina in 1844. He was en- gaged in practice for a number of years until about 1865, when he became partner of Ion. Samuel W. MeClure, and after the dissolution of that firm Mr. Oviatt continued his profes- sional practice with his son-in-low, George G. Ellen, Esq .; later Mr. Charles Cobbs was ad- mitted to the firm. Mr. Oviatt held the office of prosecuting attorney of Summit County, to which he was elected by the people, and dur- ing the Civil War he served in a hundred day service as a member of the 164th Regiment. Ohio National Guard. Mr. Oviatt was a patriotic, publie-spirited eitizen and a most painstaking, conscientious lawyer. He was frequently selected and instructed with the set tlement of estates in which he was very prompt and thorough.

ROLLAND O. HAMMOND was another of the old lawyers long since passed away. He was born in 1826 in the township of Bath. He was educated at Oberlin College and also at- tended Western Reserve College. He pre- pared for the business of his profession in the office of Judge Carpenter and MeClure and was admitted to the bar in Painesville in 1850. He held the office of probate judge, under ap- pointment from Governor Reuben Wood. He made a very excellent officer, and, upon the

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election of James Buchanan as president, he was appointed postmaster of the eity of Ak- ron, which office he held for four years. Mr. Hammond was an excellent trial lawyer. He was a man of high tastes and culture, and was a fine writer as well as a persuasive and elo- quent orator.

HION. ULYSSES L. MARVIN was born in Stow, in 1839. Ile was educated in the district schools and Twinsburg Institute, and for a time engaged in teaching the common schools. In 1858 he entered the law office of H. B. Foster in Hudson, and then he eame to Akron and entered the law office of Hon. Sidney Edgerton, and was admitted to the bar in 1860. In 1862 he enlisted as a private in the 115th Regiment, Ohio Volun- teer Infantry, and later he became first lieu- tenant of the Fifth United States Colored Regiment. He was promoted to captain dur- ing the Siege of Richmond in 1869. Judge Marvin was elected probate judge of Summit County, serving six years and was appointed Common Pleas Judge by Governor Foster in place of Judge Tibbals, serving until the fol- lowing October. He was later elected a judge of the Circuit Court for Cuyahoga, Summit, Lorain and Medina District and is still serv- ing as a judge of that eourt, having been nominated for a third term.

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Centennial history of Summit County, Ohio and representative citizens, Part 33

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868 Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author: Doyle, William B., b. 1868
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Biographical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1150