Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 45

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th > Part 45

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LUCIUS P. MARSH came to Delaware about the year 1848. from the State of New York. He was then a young man about twen- ty-four years of age. He seems to have studied law before he came here. He was first em- ployed by the Board of Directors as superin- tendent of the public schools of the town at a salary of forty dollars per month. The school house was the old William Street Methodist Episcopal Church which had been bought by the Board of Education and converted into a schoolhouse. It was located on the northwest corner of William and Franklin Streets, just west of the present church. Mr. Marsh had a number of teachers under him and at the

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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY

end of the two years he asked for a better sal- ary. This having been refused, he resigned his position and began the practice of law in Delaware. He only remained here for a short time when he removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where he afterward became a prominent lawyer and was elected one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas of the Eighth Judicial Dis- trict.

HON. JAMES H. HUBBELL was born in Lincoln Township, which was at that time a part of Delaware County, July 13, A. D., 1824. His parents' names were Shadrac Hub- bell and Rebecca ( Randolph) Hubbell. He received his early education in the public schools and began the study of law in the office of Judge Thomas W. Powell about the year 1843 and was admitted to the Bar on the fifth day of January, 1845. Mr. Hubbell be- came a law partner of his former preceptor and he soon acquired a remunerative practice but his greatest success in life was in the politi- cal field. Mr. Hubbell was pleasant, genial and affable and was a born politician. He had been in the practice of his profession but a few years when he was called to fill the office of representative in the General Assembly of Ohio. He was first elected as a member of the Forty-eighth General Assembly in the autumn of 1848. He was again elected as a member of the Fifty-third. Fifty-fifth, and Fifty-sixth General Assemblies and he be- came the speaker of the house, in the Fifty- fifth and Fifty-sixth General Assemblies. He resigned his office as a member of the Fifty- sixth Assembly to accept the nomination for Congress in the Eighth Congressional Dis- trict of Ohio. He was elected and served in that capacity during the years 1865 and 1866. At this time the Ohio delegation in Congress was composed of such men as Rutherford B. Hayes, Robert C. Schenck, William Law- rence, Samuel Shellabarger, Ralph P. Buck- land, James M. Ashby, Columbus Delano, John A. Bingham, Ephraim R. Eckley and James A. Garfield, and among all these distin- guished representatives of Ohio, the Hon. James R. Hubbell stood as a peer. At this

period in Mr. Hubbell's life, the tide which had carried him to this high pinnacle began to recede and though his ambitions were not altogether swept away in this receding tide, the foundations of his future greatness seemed to have been undermined, and he was never again restored to the position he had held in the con- fidence of his constituents. At the time Mr. Hubbell took his seat in Congress. Andrew Johnson had succeeded to the presidency by reason of the assassination of President Lin- coln and during the long struggle in Congress for the reconstruction of the Southern States after the Civil War, and in the memorable an- tagonism between the president and the party that had elected him and had also elected Mr. Hubbell as a representative from Ohio, Mr. Hubbell, unfortunately adopted the views of Andrew Johnson in regard to the policy of re- construction and thereby alienated himself from the majority of his party and ever aft- erward was unable to restore himself to its confidence and support. Like the president lie drifted away to the policy of the Democratic party, the principles of which he maintained to the time of his death, which occurred at the home of his son, at Bellville, Richland County, Ohio, on the twenty-sixth day of November, 1890. Mr. Hubbell delivered a noted speech in Congress on February 5, 1866, on the sub- ject of reconstruction, in support of President Johnson's policy, in which he maintained that Johnson was simply carrying out the policy inaugurated by President Lincoln, viz., the policy of peace, forgiveness, reconciliation and restoration. In illustrating the character of Lincoln in the line of policy adopted by John- son, Mr. Hubbell in the closing of his speech quoted these lines :

"The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes."

Which quotation would seem to give a key to Mr. Hubbell's own motives in the course he adopted and in the closing para- graphs of that memorable speech, he said: "I

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heartily approve of what has been done by the president. In our deliberations it seems to me our aim should be to heal and not to ir- ritate, to bind up the nation's wounds and so conduct our legislation as to restore to all parts of our heretofore unhappy and distracted country, peace, concord and harmony."

Mr. Hubbell, up to this time had been a Whig and a Republican in his party affilia- tions. He had been. in fact, one of the or- ganizers of the Republican party. He had been presidential elector on the Fremont and Dayton ticket in 1856. Mr. Hubbell's politi- cal career did not wholly end with his accept- ing the policy of President Johnson; he was appointed minister to Portugal by President Johnson, but owing to the bitter contest be- tween the president and the Republican senate. his nomination was not confirmed. Mr. Hub- bell was nominated in the autumn of 1869 by the Democratic Party, in the Sixteenth Sena- torial District, at that time composed of Dela- ware and Licking Counties, for the office of State Senator and was elected, but after hay- ing served one year, he resigned for the pur- pose of accepting the Democratic nomination for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District, but he was defeated by his Republican opponent, Hon. John Beatty, of Morrow County, Ohio.

Mr. Hubbell was in many respects one of the most remarkable men the county has ever produced. He studied closely and very care- fully the political events of his state and na- tion. He possessed a marvelous memory and was well versed in the history, lives and genea- ology of all the public men of the nation. There were but few of the prominent families of this county with whom he was not person- ally acquainted, and his friends and acquain- tances were such as desired to honor and pro- mote him.

There was a time when Mr. Hubbell might have commanded the highest honors and distinctions within the gift of his constituents. There are yet many living witnesses who date the inspiration of their success to the friendly aid and counsel he gave them. It was his pe- culiar pride to extend a helping hand to some

young man struggling for recognition in law, medicine, politics or military services and to no one who asked his aid or assistance did he turn away and in his declining years it was a great comfort to him to hear from these per- sons, that they appreciated those acts of kind- ness and that they held him in grateful remem- brance.

COL. WILLIAM P. REID was born in Ox- ford Township. Delaware County. Ohio, on the eighth day of January, A. D .. 1825. His advantages in early life for an education were very meager. During his boyhood Oxford Township was new and the schools were few and far between, so that Mr. Reid's early edu- cation was limited and during all his life he felt the loss of an early education. Though he labored under this disadvantage, he was not by any means an uneducated man. He became a close student of human nature and was one of the most careful lawyers in the selection of a jury that Delaware County ever produced. What he lacked in early education and train- ing he overcame by arduous study and in- dustry. He was admitted to the Bar in the year 1849. and he immediately located in Delaware. He served as a Justice of the Peace, but through his perseverance and in- dustry he soon rose to distinction in his pro- fession. His greatest success was in the man- agement of a case before a jury. He pre- pared his case with great care ; he saw the wit- nesses and knew what they would say: he knew the jury and all their surroundings, and when he came to argue the facts and testimony to the jury, his good common sense enabled him to select the strongest points in his favor and to pass by the weak ones, so that the jury was apt to see the case as he saw it. Early in his practice he made the trial of personal in- jury cases a specialty, and he became an ex- pert in that particular branch of the practice. so that for many years before his death he had a reputation for being one of the best jury lawyers in the State and his services were sought in important cases, not only in his own but in many other counties of the State, and many of his cases were carried to the

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courts of last resort and became leading au- thorities in personal injury cases.

During the second year of the Civil war Mr. Reid organized the One Hundred and Twen- ty-first Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry and was made its Colonel, and it was this fact which gave him the title of Colonel. He was compelled to resign by reason of sickness and after recuperating for a time he again took up the practice of his profession. He became the law partner of Henry J. Eaton with whom he was associated in the practice for many years, the style of the firm being Reid and Eaton. He afterward formed a partnership with Hon. Thomas E. Powell, which continued to the time of Colonel Reid's death. the style of this firm being Reid & Powell.

Colonel Reid was an ardent Democrat in his political views, and was called to fill several important positions by his party, yet he never devoted his time and talents to politics ; his time and energy was principally devoted to his chosen profession. He was elected State Senator by his party, for the Sixteenth Dis- trict, composed of Delaware and Licking Counties, serving in the Fifty-third General Assembly during the years 1874 and 1875. These positions he filled with his usual perse- verance and industry and he soon became a leader in the Senate. But his greatest suc- cess in life was in his professional career, and in this he had few equals and in his manage- ment of jury cases he had no superiors. He died in the prime of his manhood, on the twenty-second day of January, .A. D., 1879, at the age of fifty-four years, having worn out his life by ardent work devoted to his pro- fession.

HOMER MCKENDREE CARPER was born in Licking County, Ohio, July 24, 1826. He died at Delaware, Ohio, January 14. 1895, having almost completed his three score and ten years when called to his final reward. He was the son of Rev. Joseph Carper, a minister of the Gospel in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He received his early education from the teach- ings of his mother and in the public schools.

He was a student for a short time in the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio. In Novem- ber, 1844, he entered the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- versity at Delaware, Ohio, and completed a classical course, and was graduated with honors in 1848. His attachment for his alma mater lead him to locate in Delaware and lie afterward becanie a member of the Board of Trustees of his chosen university and was its trusted counsel at the time of his death.

Mr. Carper studied law at Lancaster, Ohio, under the tutorship of those great mas- ters of the profession, Thomas Ewing and Hocking H. Hunter, and was admitted to the Bar in the year 1850, having imbibed from these eminent teachers, the great principles of the law, which he ever afterward taught and followed. He settled in Delaware and com- menced the practice of his profession as a partner with Hon. James R. Hubbell, then a leading member of the Delaware County Bar. At the end of three years this partnership was dissolved and a new one was formed with Hon. Thomas C. Jones, which continued until Mr. Jones was elected Judge of the Common Pleas Court. In the year 1862 he became associated with Hon. J. D. Van Deman in a partnership which continued for a period of almost thirty years. By that time Mr. Carper had obtained a sufficiency for the support of him- self and family and he gradually retired from active practice and often refused to accept new business. A few of his clients, however, clung to him and insisted upon his legal ser- vices when they needed a counsellor or had important litigation. One of these clients was the C. C. C. & St. L. Railway Company, which he had served as counsel for many years.

Mr. Carper had few aspirations for official honors. He declined a nomination for the Common Pleas Bench in the year 1881, al- though urged to accept by the members of the Delaware County Bar. He was however a delegate from this congressional district to the National Republican Convention which nominated Benjamin F. Harrison for Presi- dent of the United States. He served Dela- ware County for two terms as prosecuting

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attorney. Mr. Carper, like many of the older school of attorneys, was well versed in the common law. Ile argued from its principles and presented his cases to the court and jury upon its theories and precepts rather than from cases cited. He was, therefore, what woud be styled an elementary practitioner rather than a case lawyer. He was a man of great scholarly attainments and he drew about him a circle of admirers who delighted in his conversation. He enjoyed his home to which he was greatly attached, and he rarely spent an evening away from his own fireside. Mr. Carper died very suddenly and his death created a great shock in the community. The Bar in which he had been so long a prominent figure adopted a memorial which was spread upon the court records as an inspiration to his brethren and fellow members of the Bar.

LEANDER J. CRITCHFIELD graduated at the Ohio Wesleyan University in the class of 1849. He studied law with Judge Finch and was admitted to the Bar soon after, and then became the law partner of Mr. Finch and for several years their names are attached to numerous pleadings in the Clerk's office, and Mr. Critchfield's name is attached to many other papers recorded in the records of the county. He was a successful practitioner at the Delaware County Bar. until he was ap- pointed reporter of the Supreme Court of Ohio. His first volume of the reports entitled, "The Ohio State Reports," being the fifth volume of the new series, was published in the year 1858, beginning with the decisions of that court in the term of December, 1855. He remained official reporter of the court tin- til the year 1872, when he published his last volume of the new series. His duties as re- porter were ably and faithfully performed. and these reports remain as an honorable monument to his professional abilities and in- dustry. Soon after he began the publication of the reports he removed to Columbus, where he continued his practice in Franklin and stir- rounding Counties. For many years he re- sided on a farm near Flint, just over the Dela- ware County line in the edge of Franklin

County, and went to his office in Columbus, Ohio, by train. He died about ten years ago, having accumulated an abundance for his family.

HON. JOHN D. VAN DEMAN is the Nestor of the Delaware County Bar. He was born in Delaware County, Ohio, on the twelfth day of February, 1832. His father, Rev. Henry Van Deman, was a native of Pennsylvania. He was a minister of the Presbyterian Church, and was pastor of the church in Delaware for nearly forty years. His mother, Sarah Dar- linton, was a daughter of General Joseph Dar- linton. who was one of the pioneers in the settlement of the Northwest Territory, and was a member of the Territorial Legislature of Ohio and a member of the convention held to frame the first constitution of the State.

When a child Mr. Van Deman received his primary lessons from Mrs. Murray, in the basement of the building located on the Court House lot, being the same building where he af- terwards completed his legal studies, prepara- tory to his admission to the Bar. ( President R. B. Hayes had been a student at this same school.) Mr. Van Deman completed the clas- sical course in Ohio Wesleyan University, and received his degree in the year 1851, and is now one of the oldest graduates of that institu- tion. Immediately upon his graduation he entered the law office of Messrs. Powell and Buck, where he completed his course in law in the year 1853. and was admitted to the Bar before the District Court of Delaware County, which was presided over by Allen G. Thurman, then chief justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He began the practice in Delaware, soon achieving a success which was very gratifying. His first partnership was with Judge Thomas W. Powell, which continued until the year 1862. the success of which may be seen by reference to the court records, where the names of Powell and Van Deman, attorneys, appear subscribed to numer- ous pleadings. He then entered into a part- nership with the late Homer M. Carper, which was maintained without interruption until the year 1887, when Mr. Van Deman retired

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from a general practice. At the time of this dissolution, it was the oldest law firm in the State, having been in existence for nearly thirty years. During all this time the rela- tions of Mr. Carper and Mr. Van Deman were not only friendly and cordial but were of the closest intimacy. The firm name was known as Carper & Van Deman, and this firm was for many years employed in most of the im- portant cases tried in the county, as will ap- pear by reference to the Court Journal and other records of the court.

Mr. Van Deman's first case was one which afterwards became famous by reason of the principle established in it when it reached the Supreme Court of Ohio. It was a question affecting the grade of streets and it became a leading authority throughout the states on that subject. The title of the case was James WV. Crawford vs. the Village of Delaware, and the same is reported in the Seventh O. S. R., Page 459. Judge Thomas W. Powell was associated with Mr. Van Deman in the trial of the case. Mr. Crawford had brought suit against the village of Delaware for dam- ages for cutting down the grade in front of his residence. On a hearing in the court, Judge Powell was trying to call to mind a Latin maxim which he thought was applicable to the case but which for the time being he could not recall. Finally, Judge Finch, who was a fine Latin scholar, said to Mr. Powell, "You refer to the Maxim, 'Damnum absqui injuria,'" "Yes, yes," said Judge Powell, "that is it." Mr. Crawford, who was pleading his own case and was not a Latin scholar, at once replied, "I will show you, Mr. Powell, before I get through with you, whether it is a damn tight squeeze."

There were very few important cases tried in the courts of Delaware County, during the time of Mr. Van Deman's active relations with the Bar, in which he was not engaged. One of the most celebrated cases which he man- aged was that of the prosecution of L. Houck, who was a manipulator of three card monte. Houck had killed a man on a Hocking Valley train just before the train stopped at the Dela- ware station. He was indicted for murder and

Mr. Van Deman was employed to prosecute the case. Of his argument to the jury in the trial of the case, the Ohio State Journal said, "His address was admired by all who heard it. It was clear and sound in argument and his rhetoric was unusually fine, his speech was pronounced one of the best ever delivered at the Bar of Delaware County." Houck was convicted of manslaughter and was sentenced to the Ohio Penitentiary for many years.

Another celebrated case was one growing out of the failure of a bank at Logansport in the State of Indiana. The case was tried in the Federal Court at Toledo, Ohio. An at- tempt was made on the part of the Indiana bank management to hold Mr. E. R. Thomp- son, a non-resident, as a stockholder in the bank. There was a verdict on the first trial against Mr. Thompson. The case was taken to the United States Supreme Court, and the judgment was reversed, after a delay of many years. The case was again tried and a verdict was had in favor of Mr. Thompson's estate, he having been called long years before to his final account.

Mr. Van Deman always prepared his pleadings with great care and tried his cases in court with great skill. Politically Mr. Van Deman has always been a Republican, but rarely aspires to political honors. He was sat- isfied with the emoluments as well as the fame which a lawyer who attends strictly to the pro- fession may secure. He was just entering his professional career when the Republican party was organized. He took a great interest in it and in 1856 he took the stump in support of Fremont and the new political platform which opposed the further extension of slavery into the territories.

He became acquainted with Abraham Lin- coln in the year 1859, when Mr. Lincoln made his great speech from the east side of the State Ilouse in the city of Columbus, against Ste- phen A. Douglas. Mr. Van Deman was so charmed with the great simplicity and true nobility of the martyr president that he be- came one of his most zealous adherents. He continued in his work as a campaign orator until after the close of the campaign of 1884,

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when he retired from the political field, leav- ing the more arduous service to younger men. But in the campaign of 1896, he again en- tered the political arena and under the appoint- ment of the national committee made many speeches in Ohio and spent about four weeks in Kansas, most of the time in the district of "Sockless" Jerry Simpson.

Mr. Van Deman was four years prosecut- ing attorney of Delaware County. He was mayor of the city of Delaware for two terms and in the year 1876 was a candidate for judge of the Common Pleas Court, on the Re- publican ticket. in the First Subdivision of the Sixth Judicial district and later was a candi- date for circuit judge of the Fifth Judicial District on the Republican ticket, but in both cases the Democratic majority was so great that even though he ran more than one thou- sand votes ahead of his ticket. he was unsuc- cessful. Mr. Van Deman has been for several termis a member of the City Council and was its presiding officer most of the time and was recognized as one of its most useful members. Mr. Van Deman's disposition is to be con- servative, believing that permanent success for the county will be found in guarding carefully the public expenses and public treasury. He is in favor of reducing the taxes to a minimum and he would exact of public officials. perfor- mance of their duty and an honest execution of the public trust.

Mr. Van Deman was a lieutenant in Com- pany E. One Hundred and Forty-fifth Regi- ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in the Civil War, and is a charter member of George B. Torrence Post. G. A. R., and was its post commander. He served as aid on the staff of General Alger, grand commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a member of Hiram Lodge. No. 18. F. & A. M. : Delaware Chapter, No. 54. R. A. M. and a member of Delaware Council. No. 84. R. & S. M.

Mr. Van Deman has displayed great tal- ent for business and is one of Delaware's most prosperous citizens. He assisted in organiz- ing the Columbus and Toledo Railway Com- pany and was one of its directors for many years. He was its counsel for thirty-five years

and was counsel for the Big Four Railway for about the same length of time. He has been a director in the First National Bank of Delaware for many years and is now its presi- dent. He helped to organize the first building association in Delaware and was its president and he is now a member of the Board of Di- rectors of the Fidelity Building Association and Loan Company.

Mr. Van Deman is a member of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church of Delaware and is now its senior warden. He has served for many years as president of the Board of Trus- tees for the Diocese of Southern Ohio, which board has the management of the church prop- erty of the diocese and the investment of its charitable and benevolent funds.

In the year 1903, Mr. Van Deman having completed fifty years of active work at the bar, retired from the profession. having ac- cumulated a sufficiency for himself and family. He spends his winters in his southern home and his summers at his home in Delaware, where he enjoys the utmost confidence and re- speet of his neighbors and fellow citizens. *

GENERAL JOHN S. JONES was born Febru- ary 12, 1836. in Champaign County. Ohio, and died in Delaware, Ohio. April 11, 1903. He lived on his father's farm and was edu- cated in the public schools until his great de- sire for an education led him to the Ohio Wesleyan University, where he completed his course of study in the year 1855. supporting himself in the meantime by teaching school. In the autumn of the year 1855 he began the study of law in the office of Thomas W. Pow- ell and was admitted to the Bar in the autumn of the year 1857. He immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in Dela- ware. Ohio, with gratifying success and was soon elected prosecuting attorney of Delaware County. He had not served out his first term when the Civil War began. He was among the first to volunteer from this county in the Union army. He enlisted as a private in Company C. Fourth Regiment O. V. 1 .. but was immediately elected first lieutenant of the company and on the twenty-fifth day of Sep-

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Century history of Delaware County, Ohio and representative citizens 20th, Part 45

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 926

Author: Lytle, James Robert, 1841- [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago, Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 926