History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 152

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728

USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 152
USA > Ohio > Belmont County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 152

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Judge Pease was succeeded by BENJAMIN RUGGLES, of Belmont county, who first presided at the April term, 1810, and served until the close of the November term, 1814. He was succeeded by Dr. George Tod, of Trumbull county, who served out his unexpired term during the year 1816.

After that came the Hon, BENJAMIN TAPPAN, who first presi- ded at the June term, 1816, and who was a leading man in pub- lic affairs, achieving a national reputation. Judge Tappan was born in Northampton, Mass., on May 25, 1773, and was admitted to the bar at Hartford, Conn., about the year 1798. In 1799 be came to Ohio and settled at Ravenna, being the first white set- tler in Portage county. In 1801 he married at Weathersfield, Conn., Miss Nancy, sister of Hon. John C. Wright, and with her came to Steubenville, in 1809. Here his abilities soon made him conspicuous, and as stated, he became Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1816, holding that office one term, his last offi- eial act in that capacity being at the last term in 1823. He was afterward appointed United States Judge by President Jackson, but the Senate failing to confirm the appointment, he held the place but a few months. In 1838 he was elected United States Senator, receiving 57 votes as a democrat to 50 for Thomas Ewing, whig, and one blank. This was on December 20th, and the following year he took his seat, serving a term of six years ending in 1845. After his return he resumed the practice of law, which he followed for several years, and taking into partnership with him Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, he finally turned over his business to him and retired. He died in April, 1857, full of years and honors. There are now two of his sons living, Dr. Benjamin Tappan, of this city, and Prof. Eli Tappan, of Kenyon college, Gambier, Ohio. Judge Tappan pub-

lished a volume containing a report of eonrt decisions while he was on the bench, copies of which are now very scarce.

Prominent among the members of the bar at this period was JOHN C. WRIGHT, who was born at Weatherston, Conn., and eame here about the year 1810. He was married to a sister of James Collier, and from his arrival took an active part in public affairs. In 1820 he was elected member of Congress from this district and was reelected for several terms thereafter until he was succeeded by John M. Goodenow, in 1829. After that he became one of the Supreme Court Judges of the State of Ohio, which position he held until 1835, when he resigned on Jan- uary 31st of that year. He published a volume of Supreme Court decisions entitled Wright's Reports, which are still quoted as authority. He removed from here to Cincinnati, where he continued the practice of law, and also became one of the editors of the Cincinnati Gazette, which position he held for a number of years. He was here in 1842 as attorney in the ease of Geno & Gongs vs. Talbott, which was tried in the Supreme Court. His sight at this time was considerably impaired. In the win- ter of 1860-61 he was appointed a member of the famous Peace Conference ealled at Washington in the hope of finding some plan by which the war of the rebellion might be obviated, and it was while on his way homefrom that Conference in February of the latter year, that he died at the age of about 78 years. One of his sons is, we believe, still living.

JOHN M. GOODENOW was another brilliant light of the bar of his period and although circumstances for which he was perhaps largely responsible, prevented him attaining that measure of success which he would otherwise have reached, yet his abilities enabled him to attain a position in public life which would have contented the aspirations of many a man. Mr. Goodenow was a native of Vermont, and in 1813, was married to Mrs Sallie Campbell, sister of John C. Wright, and soon after came to Steu- benville. He had the misfortune soon after his arrival here to involve himself in a bitter quarrel with his brother-in-law, Judge Tappan, which finally ended in a slander suit vigorously contested, but in which Goodenow came off victorious. This, right at the beginning of his work here, was a serious drawbaek to him, but he was able to make such headway against these dis- couragements as to attain a position on the Supreme bench and to defeat Wright for Congress in 1828. He served the greater part of the term, when he resigned to accept the position of Min- ister to the South American Republic of Columbia. It is said that on his return to the United States he was elected Common Pleas Judge in Cincinnati. Before he died he went to Texas, but did not succeed there, and came back to Cincinnati, where he died in indigence. It has been said of him that " As a poli- tician Judge Goodenow might have been one of the first in Ohio. As a judge he held no second rank. He was a fine classical scholar, perhaps too much of a student for a politician, if not for a lawyer. The delight of his life was composition, yet he never, or hardly ever, publisbed. His mind ran to literature, and if the papers he wrote, and never published, were collected and printed, his fame as an essayist would make his fame wider known and much more enduring than the name he gained in the civil service of his country, in Congress, at the bar or on the bench."

JAMES COLLIER, who was a resident of Steubenville for many years, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, in May, 1789. Here- moved from there to Ithaca, New York, coming from thence to Steubenville in 1820, studying law and being admitted to the bar after his arrival here. He soon stepped to the front rank through his ability and energy, and became prominent not only in the direct line of his profession, but in the politieal world. He was an active member of the Whig party, and was at one time a candidate for governor of the state, but was defeated for the nomination by Thomas Corwin, who was afterwards elected. Ile was prosecuting attorney of the county for one term, and was a delegate to the Taylor Convention ot 1848, and in the spring of the following year was appointed collector of the port. of San Francisco, being the first to hold that office. He traveled overland to reach his destination, going via. Santa Fe, going through a country almost unknown, and escorted across the plains by a detachment of U. S. cavalry. On the expiration of his term he returned to Steubenville and engaged in the bank- ing business, the result of which was unfortunate, the Citizens Bank, of which he was president, having failed in 1859. Col. Collier was a soldier of the war of 1812, being adjutant of Bloom's regiment of New York volunteers. He served on the Canadian frontier, and was present at the bloody battle of Queenstown Heights. He was the first man to volunteer from

440

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES.

Jefferson county at the outbreak of the rebellion, notwithstand- ing he was now an old man, and accompanied the troops as far as Harrisburg, when he was persuaded to return. He was not engaged in active business after that, and died on Sunday, Feb- ruary 2, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-four years. His wife, whose maiden name was Miss Eunice Ingersoll, still sur- vives him, together with two sons, John and William, and one daughter, Mrs. A. H. Dohrman.

DANIEL L. COLLIER, James' brother, was also born in Litchfield, January 15, 1796. His father, Thomas Collier, was an editor and a man of marked ability, and his mother, Elizabeth Stock- well, of Norwark, Conn., was distinguished by a strong mind and fervent piety. Young Dan. first served an apprenticeship in a printing office and afterwards became a clerk, until at the age of twenty he concluded to try his fortunes in what was then the west. He took passage on a raft down the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, and at length arrived at Steubenville during the year 1816. Entering the law office of his brother-in-law, John C. Wright, he made rapid progress, and at the August term of court, 1818, his name appears on the records as an attorney. In 1823 he was married to Miss Hetty Larimore, of Washington, Pa., a highly esteemed lady, the fruit of this union was nine children. He removed to Philadelphia in 1857, where he took an active and prominent part in public religious enterprises. He was a member of the board of managers of the house of refuge, blind asylum and colonization society, and was also member and vice-president of the Presbyterian Board of Publication and member of its Executive Committee. He died on March 30, 1869, aged seventy-three years, two months and 15 days, hon- ored and respected.

GEN. SAMUEL STOKELY was perhaps one of the most widely known members of the bar of this period. He was born in one of the counties of Western Pennsylvania, on January 25, 1796. He was educated and graduated at Washington College, Pa., and came to Steubenville about 1816, having studied law with Parker Campbell, of Washington. He was admitted to the bar in 1817, and in April 1830, married Rachel, widow of Dr. P. S. Mason. Soon after that he purchased the " grove" property in the south end of town, being the Bazalecl Wells' homestead, but sinee more generally known as the Stokely grove, where he lived until his death, which occurred on May 23, 1861. He held - a number of public offices, the first of which was that of U. S. Land receiver, about 1827-8. He was senator from the Jeffer. son county district in the 36th General Assembly of 1837-8, and served a term in Congress from 1841 to 1843. He was Brigadier General of militia several years before his death, by which he received the title by which he is generally known. His first wife dying, he was afterwards married to Mrs. Low- ther and Mrs Burton, both of whom are dead. Four of his chil- dren are yet living, M. S. Stokely, of this city, Joseph Stokely, of Dubuque, Iowa; Mrs. E. S. Wood, of Gambier, Ohio; and Mrs. S. J. Lloyd, of Cleveland. A contemporary says of him : " Wherever known he was recognized as an accomplished gen- tleman, with mueh military pride, and always glad to meet his friends and extend them a generous hospitalty.'

ROSWELL MARSH was one of the self-made men of the bar, and he too came of New England stock, having been born at Queeehy, Vermont, in 1793. He eame to Steubenville in 1821, and studied law in the office of Samuel Stokeley. In 1823 he was admitted to practice, Judge Halleck being then the presid- ing Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, with Andrew Ander- son, James Moore, and Thomas George, associates, this probably being one of Judge Halleck's first official acts. He followed the practice of law in this court for fifty years, and his white locks and venerable appearance of later days long made him a con- spicuous object. In 1840 he was elected a member of the Legis- lature, and served one term. At the outbreak of the civil war he volunteered his services in defense of his country, but his ad- vanced age and infirmities prevented the acceptance of his serv- iees by the government. He was appointed afterward on a com- mittee with S. W. Bostwick, of Harrison county, and Hon. B. S. Cowan of Belmont, to investigate claims for losses sustained in Missouri during the rebellion. He was married to the widow of Dr. George Wilson, of this city, who was also a daughter of Joseph Dorsey, of Washington county, Pa. He was married a second time, and survived his wife by about three years, dying on the 17th of August, 1875, in the 82d year of his age. Of his characteristics it was said : " He acquired knowlege as a mason would build a stone wall-by hard work; he was learned in the law, possibly in some of its branches not absolutely necessary for professional success. He had great faith in adjudicated

cases, as shown in the English reports, and he was happy to bring a eart load of books to sustain the position he had as- sumed. "Bracton" and "Fleta," old law writers, and the "Year Books" were his library, and he could point you to the elemen- tary principles therein, that in his estimation, would settle'any case before the Common Pleas, District or Supreme Court. He was always very deliberate in his movements at the bar, never inclining to surprise the opposing counsel, and there was never any necessity for the exclamation, "Who, Emma," to control his actions ; he wanted time for argument, and the labor of the court was in vain, when it attempted to hurry him up, or limit the points of his case."

EPHRAIM ROOT was a young man of fine ability and good edu- cation. He came here from New England, probably as early as 1814. At one time he was a partner of Judge Hallock, and had he lived would have been one of the leading lights of the bar. He never married, and died at an early age, about the year 1821. This anecdote is told of him : " His office and bachelor lodging room were in the rear of that elegant specimen of an- cient architecture, the old Market House, and one winter mnorn- ing as " Sam," the eolored boy, made his appearance to build the fire, Mr. Root (who may have been fond of a morning " toddy") made inquiry if " Sol had arisen," "Yes, sir," said Sam, "I jist seed him takin' down de shutters; you can get a drink soon as you's a mind to git up and go ober to de bar."

DAVID REDDICK came from Washington county, Pa., about the year 1812. His father was a leading man in that community, and in fact, surveyed the greater part of Western Pennsylvania, and the site of Allegheney City. His son was a man of ability but of violent temper, and becoming involved in a quarrel with one Dr. Doffield, he was stabbed by that person, from the effeets of which be died. This was in 1818, and Reddick's wife lived at Holiday's Cove, W. Va., for a number of years there- after.

NATHANIEL DIKE, a cultured gentleman of the old school, was born in Beverly, Vermont, about A. D. 1790; graduated at Yale College, and came to Steubenville in 1816. He read law in the office of John M. Goodenow and was admitted to the bar, but practiced law but a short time, when he embarked in the dry goods business, at that time offering the inducements of a very profitable trade. He was successful in this for a number of years, and later in life engaged successively in the wool and wholesale grocery business, occupying the Andrews building, near the court house. For a number of years he occupied the position of Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, along with Wilson and McDonald, and was president of the council when the population of the town numbered only 3,300. He was also representative in the forty-first General Assembly of Ohio, which convened December 5, 1842. In November, 1819, he was married to Miss Anna, daughter of George Woods, of Bedford, Pa., and grand-daughter of Dr. John McDowell, of Steubenville. He died in April, 1867.

JEREMIAH PARSONS FOGG, nephew of Prof. Theopilus Parsons, of Harvard College, the well known law writer, was a eontem- porary of those we have mentioned. He died in Louisville, in 1821.

Among the attorneys from other counties who during this pe- riod distinguished themselves at the Steubenville bar should be mentioned Charles Hammond, of Belmont, afterwards editor of the Cineinnati Gazette, who never failed to hold his audience ; Philip Doddridge, of Wellsburg, who had a reputation all over his native state; Walter Beebe, of Harrison county, and James Bell, of Cambridge, Guernsey county.

JUDGE HALLOCK .- Judge Tappan was succeeded in 1823, by Jeremiah H. Hallock, who served two terms as presiding judge, his official life closing with the December term, 1836. In this pe- riod he attained a deserved reputation as an upright, impartial judge, deliberate in action and careful in decision. It was said that fewer of his decisions were reversed by the supreme court than those of his contemporaries, and when his judgment was once pronounced there was more hearty acquiescence in it than is usually the case in such instances. Judge Hallock's birth- place was in Connectieut. He married a Miss Bassett, a most estimable lady, and coming to Steubenville in 1815, lived for a long time on lower Market street. Previous to being elected judge he held the office of prosecuting attorney, and upon his retirement from the bench he went to farming southwest of the city. He lived awhile in Crosscreek township, and finally re- moved to what is now known as the Means farm, in Steubenville township, and died there about 1847.

HON. EDWIN M. STANTON.

441

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES

HON. HUMPHREY H. LEAVITT came to Steubenville from the Western Reserve about the year 1820. He studied law and was admitted, and though modest and unassuming his merits soon gave him a prominent place. Early in his career he was chosen prosecuting attorney, distinguishing himself in that position by the energy with which he performed the duties of his office. In 1826, he was elected to the Ohio Senate, serving in the twenty- sixth and twenty-seventh General Assemblies in 1827-8-9. In the fall of 1829 he was elected representative to Congress, serv- ing two terms from 1830 to 1834. In the latter year he was appointed by Pesident Jackson, who was his warm personal friend, to the judgeship of the United States District Court for the district of Ohio. He occupied the beneh for the first time in 1834, and in 1855, when the state was divided into two judi- cial districts, he continued judge of the Southern District, and became a resident of Cineinnati. He resigned his office in 1871, having held it for a period of thirty-seven years, and removed to Springfield, Ohio. He traveled in Europe in 1872, and was a member of the World's Convention for prison reform, which met in London in the summer of that year, taking an active part in its deliberation, and was the recipient of attentions from many distinguished men there. His death occurred at Springfield, on Saturday, March 15, 1873, and ended a life of which an unusally large proportion was spent in public services, and upon which there rested not a blemish or a stain, Hedied uni- versally regretted as he had lived universally respected. Three sons survive him, two of whom are ministers in the Protestant Episcopal church, John being president of Lehigh University, South Bethlehem, Pa., and Edward living in the same neigh- borhood, Frank has been quite successful in the mercantile business in Cincinnati.

JOHN K. SUTHERLAND-A student of Judge Leavitt was John K. Sutherland, who was born in Shippensburg, Cumberland county, Pa., November 17, 1810. When he was but six months old his father moved to Steubenville, becoming a leading and highly respected citizen. The son inherited his father's taste for books, especially the classics. He was admitted to practice in 1831, and soon after was elected prosecuting attorney, per- forming the duties of his office in such a manner as to give gen- eral satisfaction. In 1851 he was elected Probate Judge, and was discharging the duties of his office for the third term at the time of his decease on April 28, 1858. An evidence of his popu- larity was afforded by the fact of his election the last time when no other candidate on his ticket, the Democatic, was successful. "Judge Sutherland," in the words of his brother members of the "bar, was distinguished for ability, integrity, industry and fidelity to duty, and his judicial capacity was eminent for sound judgment and impartiality to all persons litigating before his courts."

HON. EDWIN M. STANTON.

And now we come to one whom so far as great public services and a world-wide reputation present any claim to be called great over one's fellow man, it would not be improper or derog- atory to his associates to call, "The noblest Roman of them all." We refer to the great War Minister, Hon. Edwin M. Stanton, who first saw the light of day in what was then a two story brick building on the west side of Third street, a short distance below Washington, December 19, 1814. The house of his birth is still standing, although materially altered and changed in ap- pearance, both outwardly and inwardly. Mr. Stanton's ances- tors, who were Quakers, migrated from Rhode Island to North Carolina, about the middle of the last century. His grandpa- rents, Benjamin and Abigail Stanton, resided near Beaufort, the maiden name of the latter being Macy. She was a descendant of Thomas Macy, who was said to be the earliest white settler of Nantucket, and whose flight as a result of giving shelter to a pursued Quaker was made the subject of a fine poem by John G. Whittier. In his will Benjamin Stanton expressed "the will and desire that all the poor black people that ever belonged to mno be entirely free whenever the laws of the land will al- low it; until which time my executors I leave as guardians to protect them and see that they be not deprived of their rights or any way misused." In 1800 Mrs. Stanton and a large family of children came to Ohio, and David Stanton, the father of Edwin M., became a physician of standing and influence, IIis mother's maiden name was Lucy Norman, a native of Culpep- per county, Va. Edwin at the age of thirteen, became a clerk in the book' store of James Turnbull, and after remaining here about three years went to Kenyon college in 1831. He left col- lege in 1833, and after spending a short time in a Columbus book store returned to Steubenville and began the study of law 56-B. & J. Cos.

in the office of his guardian, Daniel L. Collier. At the age of 21 or shortly after (1836), he was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in Cadiz, Harrison county, where he was shortly after elected Prosecuting Attorney. He built up a large prac- tice, and having in the meantime returned to Steubenville, he was elected by the General Assembly of the State, Reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court, which office he held from 1842 to 1845, publishing volumes 11, 12 and 13 of the Ohio State Reports. Mr. Stanton was a Democrat in politics, in his early days, and had already at this date become a prominent figure in the councils of his party. His reputation was already extended and in 1845 he successfully defended Caleb J. McNulty, Clerk of the House of Representatives, tried in the criminal court at Washington for embezzlement. In 1847 he removed to Pitts- burgh, forming a partnership with Hon. Charles Shaler, but kept an office in Steubenville for nine years thereafter. His first Steubenville partner was Judge Tappan, and his second Col. Geo. W. MeCook. The case of the State of Pennsylvania against the Wheeling & Belmont Bridge company, in which he was counsel for the State of Pennsylvania, before the U. S. Su- preme Court, attracted such general attention as to greatly in- erease his business before that Court, so in 1856 he moved to Washington, D. C., in order to better attend to it. In 1858 he went to California, as counsel for the government in some im- portant land cases, and was also attorney in quite a number of intricate patent cases. In 1859 he was associate counsel in the trial of Daniel E. Sickles for the murder of Philip Barton Key. He met Mr. Lincoln the same year while engaged before the United States Circuit Court at Cincinnati, in a suit growing out of a conflict between the Manney and McCormick reaping ma- chine interests, and in December, 1860, while engaged in the same case he was nominated to the office of Attorney General by James Buchanan. Signs of troublesome times were al- ready apparent, but Mr. Stanton's position was firmly taken on the side of national honor, and the preservation of the government of the Union. He retired from the Cab- inet with the close of Mr. Buchanan's administration and re- sumed the practice of his profession, but in January, 1862, he was appointed by Mr. Lincoln to the office of Secretary of War. Here he was in a position where his genins and almost boundless energy had full play. His efforts were indefatigable, he used little time for rest, never seemed weary, and many of the most important movements of the great struggle was made under his directions. To his untiring energy, keen intellect and profound sagacity is due in no small degree the result of the conflict. He enjoyed the most cordial personal friendship of President Lin- coln to the time of the latter's assassination in 1865, and upon Andrew Johnson's accession to the Presidency was requested to continue in charge of the War Department, He differed with the President, however, in regard to the reconstruction acts, the bill admitting Colorado as a state, the bill giving suffrage with- out regard to color in the District of Columbia, and the Civil Rights and Freedmen's Bureau bills, supporting the position of the Republican party, it having a majority in Congress. Matters at length reached such a pass that on the 5th of August, 1867, Mr. Johnson requested his resignation on the ground of " public considerations of a high character," to which Mr. Stanton replied that "public considerations of a high character which alone had induced him to remain at the head of this department con- strained him not to resign before the next meeting of Congress." He could not be removed under the tenure of office act, but on August 12th the President issued an order for his suspension, and he obeyed it under protest, General Grant being appointed Secretary of War ad interim, The Senato refused to sustain the President in the removal of Mr. Stanton, and on January 13, 1868, reinstated him in his office. Mr. Johnson renewed the conflict by appointing General Lorenzo Thomas Secretary of War ad interim, but Mr. Stanton held the fort and refused to va- cate, staying in his office day and night. The proceedings in impeachment followed, and on the failure to impeach the Presi- dent, on May 26th, Mr. Stanton resigned. The Senate in con- firming his successor adopted a resolution that Mr. Stanton was not legally removed, but relinquished his office, and subsequently Congress passed him a vote of thanks for the great ability, pu- rity and fidelity with which he had discharged his duties. These entire proceedings from their beginning to their close were watched with the most intense interest all over the country, as much so as any of the operations of the war. Although Mr. Stanton's constitution was broken down by the tremendous strain which his efforts during the war had imposed on it, yet his circumstances compelled him to renew the practice of his pro- fession, very good evidence that he had not become rich while

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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 152

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 728

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728